Goblin shark: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the goblin shark lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Mitsukurina owstoni
Group	Sharks
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Lamniformes
Family	Mitsukurinidae

Where does the goblin shark live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the goblin shark in 1 country or territory across Oceania. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil.

Australia

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the goblin shark endangered?

The goblin shark’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the goblin shark?

The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Lamniformes and the family Mitsukurinidae, genus Mitsukurina. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the goblin shark

The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This pink-skinned animal has a distinctive profile with an elongated, flat snout, and highly protrusible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth. It typically reaches a length of 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) when fully grown, although it can grow significantly larger—such as one specimen captured in 2000, which was believed to measure around 6 meters (20 feet). Goblin sharks are benthopelagic creatures that inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons, and seamounts throughout the world at depths greater than 100 m (330 ft), with adults found deeper than juveniles. Some researchers believed that these sharks could also dive to depths of up to 1,300 m (4,270 ft), for short periods; footage captured in 2024 suggests that their range could be deeper than previously thought, with a confirmed sighting of an adult swimming at 2,000 m (6,560 ft).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Goblin shark (revision 1370392342), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q499461 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).