Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 24, 2013

The goblin shark is a rare, poorly understood 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 species looks unlike any other shark, with a long flattened snout, highly protrusible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth, and pink coloration. Its snout is covered with ampullae of Lorenzini that enable it to sense minute electric fields produced by nearby prey, which it can snatch up by rapidly extending its jaws. It is usually three to four meters long (10–13 ft) when mature. Goblin sharks inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons, and seamounts around the world at depths greater than 100 m (330 ft). Various anatomical features, such as its flabby body and small fins, suggest that it is sluggish in nature. This species hunts for teleost fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans both near the sea floor and in the middle of the water column. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Least Concern, citing its wide distribution and low incidence of accidental capture by deepwater fisheries. (Full article...)

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