Friday, August 9, 2013

Green, Sara. Goblin Shark.


Green, SaraGoblin SharkScholastic Press   2013 24p  $22.95  ISBN 978-0-531-24081-6        elm/ms  series: Shark Fact Files  VG  

Readers will be intrigued by Goblin Shark.  Little is known about this mysterious, elusive pink fish.  Goblin sharks live so deep in the ocean that they have managed to keep their secrets, as only a few people have ever seen this rare shark in its natural habitat. Scientists do not believe the goblin shark population to be threatened, but little concrete information about these creatures is known.

So, while scientists know that the goblin shark protrudes its jaws when it bites prey and the jaws disappear underneath the shark’s elongated nose until the next attack, they speculate that the sharks feed on squids, small fish, and crabs.  Th
is unique species occupies a habitat deep along the continental shelf of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.  Their livers (which provide buoyancy) can make up 25% of their body mass.  But no-one has ever seen goblin sharks reproduce.  Scientists can only make educated guesses about how large the sharks may grow, or how fast/sluggishly they swim, or even how acute the sharks’ senses are.  The species has been nick-named the “living fossil.”

Author Sara Green provides the facts, and clearly identifies what is speculation about goblin sharks (also known as elfin sharks).  The brief volume is rounded out by a a short index, glossary, and suggested reading list.

Sharks                                                      -–Hilary Welliver

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