The Goblin Shark’s teeth are shaped like long needles rather than the triangular serrated teeth of Bull Sharks.

The Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) has to be one of the strangest looking sharks roaming the ocean. Little is known about the Goblin Shark because it is found in the deepest parts of the ocean. They are sometimes found in fishing nets but this is a rare occasion. On February 2007, a Megamouth Shark was found off the coast of Tokyo in Tokyo Bay. It was caught in a fishing net around 500 feet deep.

Goblin Shark Habitat

The Goblin Shark is believed to be found to depths of 4,300 feet/1,300 meters deep. Because little is known about the Goblin Shark, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact limits of their depth. Few have been found in the ocean making efforts to learn about them more difficult.

Light of all wavelengths cannot penetrate below 200 meters/656 feet. Below 200 meters, the ocean is completely dark. By 100 meters, some 99 percent of all light has been absorbed.

Fish operating at these depths rely on highly adaptive sense of smell, radar or a combination of both. Sharks have a very sensitive sense of smell and are able to locate prey several kilometres away. When spending most of their time below 200 meters their sense of smell is able to detect blood as well as other chemical signatures that fish give off.

Goblin Shark Distribution

The Goblin Shark is found close to the sea bottom around a depth of 820 feet/250 meters. They can range down to 1,300 meters and may go deeper but little is known about their distribution other than where they have been caught. Their range is likely much greater than indicated here as we are reporting only those sites that they have been caught or reported being seen alive.

The Goblin Shark is found in the coastal waters of Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, French Guiana, northern coast of South America, Southern coast of africa and the western coast of California.

Goblin Shark Food Preferences

Their known diet consists of crustaceans and small fish. During the day it can be found in the deep feeding on various deep sea fish that never see light.

Goblin Shark Features and Size

The Goblin Shark’s teeth are shaped like long needles rather than the triangular serrated teeth of Bull Sharks. These teeth are better designed to prevent prey from being able to escape.

Those Goblin Sharks that have been found range in size from 8 to 11 feet for adults and weighed as much as 463 pounds/210 kilograms.

The Goblin Shark has the typical shark contour but its fins are rounded instead of being pointed. The pelvic fin is much larger than the dorsal fin as is the anal fin. This is believed to be better suited to spending their entire life submerged in the water, never reaching the surface.

Their skin has a pink hue due to the skin being rather translucent showing off the blood vessels close to the surface.