Is this shark with a second set of outwardly-thrust jaws real?


Looks like a shark.

I’ve seen videos of some other sea creature–a common snakey thing, IIRC–being studied at a lab, in slo-mo, with a second set coming out and doing the swallowing. Spooky as hell. I’ll have to try to find that.

'tis a Goblin shark.

Do not want.

If you look closely, it’s not a “second set” at all, though it sure is “outwardly thrusting” alright!

I see it now on the “second” business being wrong. But that eel-y thing really did have a second set darting out–that was what all the fuss was about at the lab.

Any idea? It bugs me now.

Got it.

This is the video I saw:

Somewhere in SD is a longish thread with poetry about the moray eel.

Yep, that’s a goblin shark. Most sharks have jaws that can thrust forward like that, though it’s a bit more dramatic in this species than in most.

“When you swim in the sea,
And an eel bites your knee,
That’s a moray.”? :smiley:

I thought it was the featured monster in a horror film to be shown on SyFy next month: GigerSharks in Space!

Better than GigaSharks in Space, really.

The other day Celtling started telling me what she’d learned that day about “Cookie Cutter Sharks.”

They have bioluminescent bellies, and sneak up on their prey by swimming above them and lighting up, so when the prey looks up all they see is the sun shining through the water, then . . .yeeouch!

They live mostly on blubber, and just go up to the side of a larger fish and drill out a circular hunk, then swim away. They are dangerous to boats because they sometimes mistake rubber for blubber and make holes in the cladding.

I was so dubious I went and googled it. Sure enough, they exist, and are some seriously disturbing creatures.

That looks like inspiration for the monster in Alien, although I think that thing really did have an inner jaw.

Take a look at that Moray Eel video.

Ridley Scott mentioned that the look of that very first adult Alien (sort of) in the last shot of *Prometheus *was inspired by the Goblin Shark…

Here’s a link about them on IO9. Make sure and click on the link showing the poor guy’s calf. :wink: