Mitsukurinidae

Mitsukurinidae Temporal range: 146–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Cretaceous to Present
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Mitsukurinidae D. S. Jordan, 1898
Genera
Anomotodon † Mitsukurina D. S. Jordan, 1898 Pseudoscapanorhynchus † Scapanorhynchus †
Synonyms
Scapanorhynchidae

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Mitsukurinidae, also called goblin sharks is a family of sharks with one living genus, Mitsukurina, and three extinct genera: Anomotodon, Pseudoscapanorhynchus and Scapanorhynchus,^[1] though some taxonomists consider Scapanorhynchus to be a synonym of Mitsukurina.^[2][3] The only known living species is the goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni.

The most distinctive characteristic of the goblin sharks is the long, trowel-shaped, beak-like snout, much longer than those of other sharks. The snout contains sensory organs to detect the electrical signals given off by the shark's prey.^[4] They also possess long, protrusible jaws.^[5] When the jaws are retracted, the shark resembles a grey nurse shark, Carcharias taurus, with an unusually long nose.

References

1. ^ Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
2. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2010). "List of Nominal Species of Mitsukurinidae (Goblin shark)". FishBase. http://www.fishbase.se/Nomenclature/NominalSpeciesList.php?Family=Mitsukurinidae. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
3. ^ "Scapanorhynchus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=159892. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
4. ^ Stevens, J. & Last, P.R. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 63. ISBN 0-12-547665-5. 
5. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Mitsukurina owstoni" in FishBase. 10 2005 version.