A rare and rather unique-looking shark has been observed alive in its natural habitat for the first time. Mitsukurina owstoni, commonly known as the goblin shark, is a deep-sea species with a long, spear-like snout and a grotesque appearance that inspired the terrifying aliens in Alien.
First Live Sightings in the Wild
Two separate research teams recorded goblin sharks swimming in the deep ocean: one along the Tonga Trench and another near Jarvis Island, close to Hawaii. The findings were published last month in the Journal of Fish Biology, marking a significant breakthrough in marine biology.
Previously, scientists had only seen living goblin sharks after they were caught on fishing lines in the Atlantic, western Indian, and Pacific Oceans, or studied their washed-up remains. These pink, squishy sharks typically reach 12 feet in length and can extend their jaws at speeds of 10 feet per second to capture prey.
Living Fossils
Goblin sharks are considered 'living fossils,' as they are the only surviving members of their family, a lineage dating back 125 million years. Despite their fearsome reputation, study co-author Alan Jamieson, director of the University of Western Australia's Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, described them as 'charismatic.'
'I never thought we'd see one alive,' Professor Jamieson said. His team aboard the R/V Dagon spotted a goblin shark in the Tonga Trench in 2024 during 50 days of continuous filming. The sighting lasted only 20 seconds.
Archival Footage Reveals Another Sighting
Paper co-author Aaron Judah from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa discovered another sighting while reviewing archived footage from a 2019 Ocean Exploration Trust expedition. He spotted the distinctive snout of a goblin shark gliding across the seafloor near Jarvis Island.
'New discoveries like this demonstrate that there is still so much to explore in our deep ocean home,' Judah said. 'Given the newly expanded geographic range of the goblin shark, this species can be included in regional management and a nation's biodiversity list.'
Not Even a Mother Could Love
Culum Brown, a fish expert at Macquarie University, told The Guardian that the goblin shark is easily the 'ugliest' shark in the world. 'They are ridiculously horrendous to look at,' Brown added. 'Not even their mother would love their faces.'
Despite their appearance, the sightings provide invaluable insights into the behavior and distribution of these elusive deep-sea creatures.
