Meet the Goblin Shark, a Deep-Sea Predator With the Fastest Bite Ever Recorded and a Hidden Ambush Weapon
The Daily Galaxy • • science
Key Points:
- New research has confirmed that the goblin shark possesses one of the fastest jaw mechanisms recorded in fish, using a unique "slingshot feeding" method that allows it to strike prey at 3.1 metres per second without body momentum.
- This jaw protrusion reaches nearly 10% of the shark’s body length, surpassing all previously documented jaw speeds and extensions in sharks, enabled by specialised ligaments that store and release energy like an elastic band.
- The goblin shark’s slow, energy-efficient swimming and ambush predation strategy are adaptations to its deep-sea habitat, where food is scarce, and it relies on electroreceptors in its elongated snout to detect prey in near-total darkness.
- Rarely