| Mitsukurinidae Temporal range: 146–0 Ma Early Cretaceous to Present |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | Mitsukurinidae D. S. Jordan, 1898 |
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| Synonyms | |
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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.