Goblin shark
Mitsukurina owstoni
.jpg){kind=link}
Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Goblin shark: 4 m.
Bigger than a car. Grows up to about 4 m.
A pink, soft-bodied shark from the deep sea with a long, flat snout. It is the only living member of a family that goes back about 125 million years, which is why people call it a living fossil.
The weird bit
Its jaws shoot forward out of its face to snatch prey. Scientists estimate they stretch out much further than the jaws of any other shark.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Deep sea30 to 1,300 m down
- What it eats
- Deep-sea fish, squid and crustaceans such as shrimp
- How worried are we?
- Doing okay (Least Concern)Assessed in 2017 by the IUCN Red List.