FLORIDA - Fishermen in Gulf of Mexico caught a rare and deep water goblin shark while hauling the shrimp net last month.

Measuring about 4.6 to 5.5 metres long, the ugly looking shark can live at the depth of around 1,300 metres.

On April 19, Captain Carl Moore went to the western shore of Key West, Florida to catch the royal red shrimp. The crew had set the nets off for the shrimps but soon they realised that they have wrangled a strange creature in their shrimp net, The Eastern Tribune reported on Tuesday.

The goblin shark caught by Capt Moore's crew was the second goblin shark to be reported in the Gulf of Mexico. The first goblin shark that was last seen in the same region was almost 10 years ago, the report says.

"I didn't even know what it was. I didn't get the tape measure out because that thing's got some wicked teeth - they could do some damage," Capt Moore told Houston Chronicle.

Goblin sharks are mysterious species that generally lives in deep-water canyons.

In 2003, after a deep sea earthquake that rattled the floor of the ocean near Taiwan, several goblin sharks were reportedly seen by fishermen within few days of the earthquake.