Animal Unique | Goblin Shark | The Goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni is a deep-sea shark, the only living species in the family Mitsukurinidae. The most striking characteristic of the goblin shark is the unusual shape of his head. It has a long, trowel-shaped, beak-like rostrum or snout, much longer than other sharks' snouts. Some other distinctive features of the shark are the color of his body, which is mostly pink, and his long, protrusible jaws. When the jaws are withdrawn, the shark resembles a pink-gray nurse shark, Carcharias taurus, with an unusually long nose.Mitsukurina owstoni can be found in the deep ocean, far below where the sun light can reach a depth of more than 200 m. They are found throughout the world, from Australia in the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean. They are best known from the waters around Japan, where the species was first discovered.
Goblin sharks feed on a variety of organisms that live in deep waters. Some of their known prey-sea squid, crabs and deep sea fishing. Very little is known about the life of the species' history and reproductive habits, such as encounters with them are relatively rare. Seemingly rare as they are, but there seems no real threat to their people and so they are not classified as endangered species by the IUCN.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: ElasmobranchiiOrder: Lamniformes
Family: Mitsukurinidae D. S. Jordan, 1898
Genus: Mitsukurina D. S. Jordan, 1898
Species: M. owstoni
Taxonomy Goblin Shark
The Goblin shark was originally described in 1897 as Mitsukurina owstoni from a sample obtained in the Sagami Sea, near Yokohama, Japan.Another specimen caught in 1909 and was described by Louis Scapanorhynchus jordoni Hussakof. For a time, was the kind of moved to the genus Scapanorhynchus Scapanorhynchus owstoni and was appointed as a scientific name invalid.The fossils now has two dozen or so in two related species (extinct) genera, and Scapanorhynchus Anomotodon.
The genus' name is named after Mitsukurina Kakichi Mitsukuri, a Japanese zoologist at the University of Tokyo, who was responsible for bringing the then unknown sample to David Jordan for a proper taxonomic identification and description. The species itself was named by Jordan in honor of avid game collector Alan Owston, that the first specimen taken from a Japanese fisherman. The shark common name is a translation of the Japanese name tenguzame, which was the original term Japanese fishermen used to refer to the shark before the description. It refers to the goblin-like tengu of Japanese folklore, a long nose that is reminiscent of the muzzle Goblin shark.
Distribution and habitat Goblin Shark
Mitsukurina owstoni bathydemersal is a deep water sharks usually found near the seabed at a depth of about 250 m. The deepest specimen ever caught was found in 1300 m.There are only about 45 known copies of Mitsukurina owstoni. Most Goblin sharks caught were from Japan (where it was first discovered), especially in an area between Tosa Bay and Boso Peninsula. The species' range is quite large Pacific. M. owstoni species found in the waters of South Africa, from different locations in the western Pacific. Goblin sharks are found off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. In the Atlantic, they found in the western Atlantic Ocean off French Guiana, in the eastern Atlantic in the Bay of Biscay and from Madeira and mainland Portugal. On the other side of the Atlantic, his goblin sharks are found in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anatomy and appearance Goblin Shark
Goblin sharks can grow to 11 feet (3.3 m) long and weighs 350 pounds (159 kilograms). They have the typical shark's semi-fusiform body. Unlike the common image of sharks, Goblin shark the fins are not pointed and instead are low and rounded, the anal and pelvic fins much larger than the dorsal fins. Heterocercal their tails are similar to the thresher shark, with the upper lobe significantly longer in proportion than the other sharks. In addition, the goblin shark's tail is missing a ventral lobe.The pink color, unique among sharks, is due to the blood vessels under a semi-transparent skin (bruises, those easy), thereby causing the colors. The fins have a bluish appearance. Goblin sharks lack a nictitating membrane. They have no precaudal pit and no keels. The front teeth are long and smooth edges, while the rear teeth are adapted for crushing. Up to 25% of the body of the goblin shark's weight, the liver. This is similar to other sharks, such as the basking shark and the shark ruffles, and contributes to the buoyancy of the shark, like all sharks, lacking a swim bladder.
Behavior Goblin Shark
Goblin sharks hunt by sensing the presence of prey with electro-sensitive organs in the stage, or muzzle, due to the absence of light in the deep waters where it swims. Once a shark finds its prey, it suddenly protrudes its jaws, while using a tongue-like muscle to suck the victim into his sharp teeth. They are known to feed on deep-sea rockfish (Helicolenus dactylopterus was found in one sample), cephalopods and crustaceans.
Display Goblin Shark
Almost nothing is known about the reproductive habits of the Goblin shark. Even if a pregnant Goblin shark has never been caught or found, as members of the order Lamniformes, it is assumed that ovoviviparous; their eggs mature and come into the body of the mother and the shark gives birth to live young
Importance to humans Goblin Shark
Goblin shark are usually found fishing as "bycatch. When they stay near the seabed, they are usually caught by deep sea bottom gillnets and long line fishing. They are sometimes caught by trawling. They are also sometimes found entangled by deep-sea fishing lines. There is a demand from a number of collectors for the skeletal jaws of goblin sharks. Prices of the jaw range from U.S. $ 1.500 to U.S. $ 4,000.
Conservation status Goblin Shark
In 2004 Goblin shark classified by the IUCN Shark Red List Authority as a kind of "Least Concern". The reason given was that despite the fact that the Goblin shark sightings are relatively rare, the worldwide distribution of the species, combined with the fact that it is not often accidentally as bycatch in fisheries, ensured that the species is not the most probably in a fairly endangered. The IUCN describes the greatest threats Goblin shark population 'as either harvest (as a deliberate goal to fish), accidental mortality (bycatch) and to a lesser extent, water pollution. There are no active conservation efforts done on this particular species
Anatomy and appearance Goblin Shark
Goblin sharks can grow to 11 feet (3.3 m) long and weighs 350 pounds (159 kilograms). They have the typical shark's semi-fusiform body. Unlike the common image of sharks, Goblin shark the fins are not pointed and instead are low and rounded, the anal and pelvic fins much larger than the dorsal fins. Heterocercal their tails are similar to the thresher shark, with the upper lobe significantly longer in proportion than the other sharks. In addition, the goblin shark's tail is missing a ventral lobe.The pink color, unique among sharks, is due to the blood vessels under a semi-transparent skin (bruises, those easy), thereby causing the colors. The fins have a bluish appearance. Goblin sharks lack a nictitating membrane. They have no precaudal pit and no keels. The front teeth are long and smooth edges, while the rear teeth are adapted for crushing. Up to 25% of the body of the goblin shark's weight, the liver. This is similar to other sharks, such as the basking shark and the shark ruffles, and contributes to the buoyancy of the shark, like all sharks, lacking a swim bladder.
Behavior Goblin Shark
Goblin sharks hunt by sensing the presence of prey with electro-sensitive organs in the stage, or muzzle, due to the absence of light in the deep waters where it swims. Once a shark finds its prey, it suddenly protrudes its jaws, while using a tongue-like muscle to suck the victim into his sharp teeth. They are known to feed on deep-sea rockfish (Helicolenus dactylopterus was found in one sample), cephalopods and crustaceans.
Display Goblin Shark
Almost nothing is known about the reproductive habits of the Goblin shark. Even if a pregnant Goblin shark has never been caught or found, as members of the order Lamniformes, it is assumed that ovoviviparous; their eggs mature and come into the body of the mother and the shark gives birth to live young
Importance to humans Goblin Shark
Goblin shark are usually found fishing as "bycatch. When they stay near the seabed, they are usually caught by deep sea bottom gillnets and long line fishing. They are sometimes caught by trawling. They are also sometimes found entangled by deep-sea fishing lines. There is a demand from a number of collectors for the skeletal jaws of goblin sharks. Prices of the jaw range from U.S. $ 1.500 to U.S. $ 4,000.
Conservation status Goblin Shark
In 2004 Goblin shark classified by the IUCN Shark Red List Authority as a kind of "Least Concern". The reason given was that despite the fact that the Goblin shark sightings are relatively rare, the worldwide distribution of the species, combined with the fact that it is not often accidentally as bycatch in fisheries, ensured that the species is not the most probably in a fairly endangered. The IUCN describes the greatest threats Goblin shark population 'as either harvest (as a deliberate goal to fish), accidental mortality (bycatch) and to a lesser extent, water pollution. There are no active conservation efforts done on this particular species
Animal Discovery And Animal Unique In The World