Mitsukurinidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

s with one living

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, '' Mitsukurina'', and four fossil genera: ''

Anomotodon ''Anomotodon'' is an extinct genus of shark related to the extant goblin shark (''Mitsukurina owstoni''). The distribution of ''Anomotodon'' fossils is worldwide, in formations indicating that members of the genus lived from the Early Cretaceous ...

'', '' Protoscapanorhynchus'', ''

Scapanorhynchus ''Scapanorhynchus'' (from , 'shovel' and 'snout') is an extinct genus of shark belonging to the family Mitsukurinidae, that lived during the Cretaceous period, from the Aptian to the end of the Maastrichtian. It is a close relative of the li ...

'', and '' Woellsteinia'',Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
/ref> though some

taxonomists In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

consider ''Scapanorhynchus'' to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''Mitsukurina''. The only known living species is the

goblin shark The goblin shark (''Mitsukurina owstoni'') is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This pink-skinned ani ...

, ''Mitsukurina owstoni''. This family of sharks is named in honour of Kakichi Mitsukuri who brought the holotype of the only species in this family to

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

to be scientifically described. The most distinctive characteristic of the goblin sharks is the long,

trowel A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel. A power trowel is a much larger ga ...

-shaped, beak-like snout, much longer than those of other sharks. Its long snout is covered with ampullae of Lorenzini that enable it to sense minute electric fields produced by nearby prey, which it can snatch up by rapidly extending its jaws. They also possess long, protrusible jaws. When the jaws are retracted, the shark resembles a

sand tiger shark The sand tiger shark (''Carcharias taurus''), grey/gray nurse shark (in Australia), spotted ragged-tooth shark (in South Africa), or blue-nurse sand tiger, is a species of shark that inhabits subtropical and temperate waters worldwide. It inhabit ...

, ''Carcharias taurus'', with an unusually long nose. Its nose resembles the nose of a goblin, which is how it received its name. These sharks have only been seen about 50 times since their discovery in 1897.

Geographic range

Originally caught in Japan, the range is wide, but not evenly distributed. The majority of known specimens come from bays of Japan while the rest are mostly found off New Zealand, southern Africa, and in the Eastern Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Two specimens have been taken off the Mississippi and California coasts of the United States. Though this probably encompasses the range of ''Mitsukurina owstoni'', sightings are so rare and widespread that the presence of goblin sharks could extend well beyond these areas. (Duffy, 1997; Martin, 1999)

Behavior

They are found in the open ocean from near the surface, down to depths of at least 4265 feet (1300 m). Scientists believe that Goblin Sharks are solitary, just like many other shark species. They also think that the fish are most active in the morning and evening. The Goblin Shark primarily feeds on teleost fishes such as rattails and dragonfish. It also eats cephalopods and crustaceans, such as decapods and isopods.

References

Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Shark families Ovoviviparous fish Extant Early Cretaceous first appearances {{Shark-stub