Goblin sharks are among the most fascinating fish in the world. They’re also among the rarest, with only about 100 known individuals. Goblin sharks are highly migratory, so it’s difficult to study them on land. However, if you’re interested in learning more about this enigmatic species, read on!
Goblin Shark
Goblin sharks are the most unusual sharks. They are deep-water sharks, and they seldom come close to beaches or shallow water. Goblin sharks have a long snout with big eyes and a long tail that can be seen from below when the shark is swimming upside down in the water column.
Goblin sharks grow to about 10 feet long, although they may reach up to 12.6 feet in length (the largest recorded specimen). Their teeth are very sharp but not very large; their body shape also makes them look small compared to other fish species—but don’t let these facts fool you: these creatures can weigh nearly 500 pounds!
Appearance
The goblin shark is a very rare species, which makes it even more interesting. Its body shape is similar to that of other sharks except for its eyes, which are located on top of its head and have no pupils. Its fins have 3 spines each and are pointed at the end; they also contain no teeth!
The goblin shark’s skin color varies between grayish-brown and yellowish-green depending on where it lives in the ocean: deeper waters tend to be darker than shallow ones (this may be due to light pollution).
Its mouth looks scary which is the main reason for its popularity as you can see in the below picture:
Habitat
The goblin shark is a deep-sea fish that can be found in most temperate oceans around the world. It lives both on the ocean floor and near its surface, but it prefers warmer waters to colder ones.
These sharks are pelagic (or “open water”) and move freely between different habitats as they hunt for food, which makes them difficult to track down by scientists without modern technology like sonar or satellite imaging.
Goblin Shark Diet
Goblin sharks are carnivorous and eat other fish, squid, and crustaceans.
They have a wide range of prey in their diet. Goblins have been known to attack small blue shark juveniles as well as larger ones that might be twice their size or more. Their large teeth allow them to tackle larger prey than most sharks can handle making them an efficient predator.
Threats
The biggest threat to the goblin shark is overfishing. The demand for shark fin soup has led to an unsustainable population decline in some locations, which can have devastating effects on other species of sharks and rays.
The global climate change that’s happening now is also affecting these animals—it’s making their habitats arider or wetter, changing their food source, and causing them to move further toward land or deeper into ocean waters.
Facts
You’ve probably heard of the goblin shark, but you might not know much about them.
- They’re deep-water shark that rarely comes to the surface to breathe and live in groups of 10 or more.
- They have long snouts, small eyes, and large mouths filled with sharp teeth for eating prey as large as whales!
- Goblin sharks are an ancient lineage of marine predators that has existed for at least 50 million years (with an estimated age of 100 million years).
- Their closest relatives include tarpon, salmon sharks, porbeagle sharks, and bullseyes (a type of eagle ray).
Conclusion
The goblin shark is a mysterious creature just like Barreleye fish and vampire squid that lives in the deep. It has a long and slender body with wide fins at the front and back, which give it a distinctive appearance. The goblin shark is one of the largest sharks in existence and also feeds on other marine animals such as jellyfish so it may seem like an aggressive species but they are actually very peaceful animals – they just eat what they want!
