Family: MITSUKURINIDAE, Goblin Shark
snout = very long, flat blade
teeth: 1 long, slender point
FAMILY MITSUKURINIDAE
GOBLIN SHARK
A large shark; body compressed, slender, very soft and flabby; head nearly as long as the body trunk; snout greatly elongated, flattened, blade–like; eyes small; mouth large, broadly arched, with highly protrusible jaws; teeth large, front and side teeth very slender with one cusp, similar in both jaws, 35 - 53 upper, 31 - 62 lower; gill slits short, all before pectoral base, gill filaments partially exposed; dorsal fins small, rounded, similar size, smaller than pelvic and anal fins; pectoral fins small, broadly rounded; pelvic fins large; tail base compressed, without keels pits before tail fin; tail fin long, top margin elongate but <1/2 body length, no lower lobe; skin denticles small, with erect, narrow, spike–like cusps and ridges; cusps of lateral denticles pointing perpendicular to surface of skin making it rough; uniform pinkish– white, with bluish fins.
One species, in all three oceans; present in the Greater Caribbean.
PREPARED BY D ROSS ROBERTSON, AFTER FAO
