The Goblin Shark is a rare breed of shark that can be identified by “the flat, blade-like, elongated snout, tiny eyes, flabby body, slender very long cusped teeth, and long caudal fin without a ventral lobe”. Goblin sharks feed on many organisms, but teleost fishes made up a majority of the Goblin Shark’s diet in the study conducted in the Tokyo Submarine Canyon. The Goblin Shark has been spotted in parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. However, it is still a rare species. Although the population is widespread, “there are frequent records in some places and its absolute absence in others”. Two genera of the Goblin Shark exist: “Scapanorhynchus for an Upper Cretaceous fossil species and Mitsukurina for an extant Japanese species representing a new family, Mitsukurinidae”. Despite this being the case, analysis of fossil records shows differences in fin and bone structure meaning there might be a need for a new classificaiton of the currently living species.
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