or between the main and rear teeth. The five pairs of gill slits are short, with the gill filaments inside partly exposed; the fifth pair is above the origin of the pectoral fins. The body is fairly slender and flabby. The two dorsal fins are similar in size and shape, both being small and rounded. The pectoral fins are also rather small and rounded. The pelvic and anal fins have long bases and are larger than the dorsal fins. The caudal peduncle is flattened from side-to-side and lacks keels or notches. The asymmetric caudal fin has a long upper lobe with a shallow ventral notch near the tip, and an indistinct lower lobe. The soft, semitranslucent skin has a rough texture from a covering of dermal denticles, each shaped like a short upright spine with lengthwise ridges. Living sharks of this species are pink or tan due to visible blood vessels beneath the skin; the color deepens with age, and young sharks may be almost white. The fins' margins are translucent gray or blue, and the eyes are black with bluish streaks in the irises. After death, the coloration fades quickly to dull gray or brown. Adult sharks usually measure between long. However, the capture of an enormous female estimated at long during 2000 showed this species can grow far larger than suspected previously. A 2019 study suggested that it would have reached in maximum length. The maximum weight recorded is for a shark of 3.8 m (12.5 ft) in length. Distribution and habitat The goblin shark has been caught in all three major oceans, indicating a wide global distribution. In the Atlantic Ocean, it has been recorded from the northern Gulf of Mexico, Suriname, French Guiana, and southern Brazil in the west, and France, Portugal, Madeira, and Senegal in the east. It has also been collected from seamounts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In the Indo-Pacific and Oceania, it has been found off South Africa, Mozambique, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. This species has been recorded from off East Cape to Kaikōura Canyon and from the Challenger Plateau near New Zealand. A single eastern Pacific specimen is known, collected off southern California. This species is most often found over the upper continental slope at depths of . It has been caught as deep as , and a tooth has been found lodged in an undersea cable at a depth