The Goblin Shark

[wiredantz]

[IMG][/IMG]




Saw this on CNN;

THIS IS UGLY!!!!

Almost looks like Jorge's Avatar



CNN) -- He has a face only a mother could love -- a mother who lives 1,000 to 3,000 feet under water and voraciously feeds on live squid and fish.

We're talking about a goblin shark -- only the second member of his species ever caught in the Gulf of Mexico, and the first since 2000, shark expert John Carlson said.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Carlson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research biologist said. "Some would call them 'ugly.' I think, 'interesting.'"








The Ugly Animal Preservation Society named the blobfish as its mascot after a global online vote in 2013. The gelatinous fish lives at depths of up to 1,200 meters off the coast of Australia where it feeds on crabs and lobsters. It's under threat as it often gets caught up in fishing nets... but you wouldn't want to eat it.



On the right you'll notice a somewhat ugly bird named the kakapo, a critically endangered parrot. It's the only flightless parrot in the world and has very muscular thighs, according to the British Science Association. On the left is former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.


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Found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the warthog is like a weird assemblage of other animals' parts. Surely only its own mother could love it ... but even then.


North America's largest land bird is likely to get by on brains, rather than looks.


This living dinosaur native to the Indonesian island of Komodo and others actually drools slime. And its bite is venomous. Don't keep as a pet.


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The monkfish. Hangs out in: the Atlantic. Lacks: aesthetic charm. What more to be said?


Draping itself around Central and South America, the three-toed sloth has a face that looks as if it was put together by a negligent depressive.


Search for the world\'s ugliest animal Search for the world's ugliest animal

Carl Moore, 63, of Townsend, Georgia, was the unlikely archeologist of this ichthyological wonder, which he estimates was 18 to 20 feet long. He caught it on April 19, about halfway through an 18-day fishing trip.

Carlson guesses it was closer to 15 feet, with the largest goblin shark ever measuring 18 feet.

Moore decided an exact appraisal wasn't in his best interest.

"I was going to take the tape measure, then he flashed around again. I said, 'Forget the measurement. That thing'll eat me up!'"

Moore has been shrimping the Atlantic and the Gulf for 50 years, with a short break for a stint in the Air Force, and he's "caught so much weird stuff: sawfish, Bahamian anglefish, loggerback turtles weighing 1,000 to 1,500 pounds." But when the goblin shark spilled out of his trawling net full of royal red shrimp, Moore felt "disbelief."

"First thing I told them boys was, 'Man, he's ugly! Looks prehistoric to me,'" Moore said.

Goblin sharks do resemble some prehistoric species, and Carlson said Moore made a "pretty important find." They're not seen anywhere all that often, though the coast of Japan boasts the shark's share of recorded sightings.

"We don't know a lot about deep water fauna," Carlson said. "We know little about (goblin sharks) -- how long they live, how fast they grow." One thing that's fairly certain: At their size, goblin sharks have few natural predators, according to Carlson.

The photographs Moore provided to NOAA will help expand that knowledge. Carlson said he and a colleague now are writing a paper on goblin sharks to submit to a scientific journal.

And Carlson can thank a 3-year-old boy for that. Moore just recently began carrying a camera with him on his shrimping expeditions. He wants to share pictures of what he does with his grandson Keaton, who turns 4 on Wednesday.

Moore released the shark after getting photographic evidence of his -- and just about anyone's -- greatest fish story ever.

"Anything that's alive we try to put back in the ocean," he said.

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[GR6RR]

looks like it has fur... wouldn't know what to think If I pulled one up.

[Fishin Phil]

This shark is definitely better looking than Jorges avatar. .

[Bert Vega]

Originally Posted by Fishin Phil

This shark is definitely better looking than Jorges avatar. .

I dont know that is a close one to call.