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Mitsukurina owstoni (Goblin shark)
Jordan, 1898
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes >
Elasmobranchii > Galeomorphii > Lamniformes > Mitsukurinidae
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Mitsukurina owstoni (Goblin shark) [Illustration
by Ann Hecht ©] |
Identification
A bizarre blade-nosed, flabby-bodied,
pinkish-white shark, fins bluish in life.
Size
To 3.4 m TL.
Range
Off Cape Town, Transkei, and Natal, possibly entire coast; sporadic
in the Atlantic and Western Pacific.
Habitat
Upper slopes at 360
and 550 m near bottom.
Biology
Virtually unknown. Eats jacopevers,
pelagic octopi, and crabs.
Human Impact
None.
Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert
and Malcolm J. Smale
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