The hammerhead shark (genus Sphyrna) is a member of the family Sphyrnidae. The only other genus of Sphyrnidae, Eusphyra, contains only one species, E. blochii, the winghead shark).

The nine known species of hammerhead range from 2–6 m long, and all species have projections on both sides of the head that give it a resemblance to a flattened hammer. The shark's eyes and nostrils are at the tips of the extensions.

They are aggressive predators which eat fish, rays, other sharks, cephalopods, and crustaceans. They are found in warmer waters along coastlines and continental shelves.

The hammer shape of the head was once thought to act as a wing, aiding in close-quarters maneuverability, allowing sharks to execute sharp turns without loss of stability. But it was found that the special design of its vertebra allowed it to make the turns correctly, more than its head. It also seems to help in electrolocation by separating the receptors, thus giving hammerheads a wider area of search. These sharks have been able to detect an electronic signal of half a billionth of a volt. The hammer shaped head also gives these sharks larger nasal tract, increasing the chance of finding a particle in the water by at least 10 times as compared to other 'classical' sharks. Hammerheads have proportionately small mouths and seem to do a lot of bottom-hunting. They are also known to form schools during the day, sometimes in groups of over 100. In the evening, like other sharks, they become solo hunters.

Reproduction in the hammerhead shark occurs once a year and each litter contains 12–15 pups. Hammerhead shark mating courtship is a very violent affair. The male will bite the female until she acquiesces, allowing mating to occur. Unlike many other shark species, the hammerhead shark has internal fertilization which creates a safe environment for the sperm to unite with the egg. The embryo develops within the female inside a placenta and is fed through an umbilical cord, much like in mammals. The gestation period is 10–12 months. Once the pups are born the parents do not stay with them and they are left to fend for themselves.

Of the nine known species of hammerhead, three can be dangerous to humans: the scalloped, great, and smooth hammerheads.

• Genus Sphyrna
  • Subgenus Sphyrna
    • Scalloped hammerhead, S. (S.) lewini
      • "Cryptic scalloped hammerhead" -- Scalloped hammerheads turn out to be divided into two separate species, which have not been officially reclassified with separate names.
    • Great Hammerhead, S. (S.) mokarran
    • Smooth hammerhead, S. (S.) zygaena
    • Whitefin Hammerhead, S. (S.) couardi
  • Subgenus Mesozygaena
    • Scalloped Bonnethead, S. (M.) corona
  • Subgenus Platysqualus
    • Scoophead, S. (P.) media
    • Bonnethead or Shovelhead, S. (P.) tiburo
    • Smalleye hammerhead or Golden Hammerhead, S. (P.) tudes

Announcements in June, 2006 reported the discovery of a possible new species of hammerhead off the shores of South Carolina. The new species is referred to simply as a cryptic species until it receives an official designation. This is prolonged, in part, because the discovery is really that the "scalloped hammerhead" is two different species, not that a new species has been sighted, in the normal way. The discovery that scalloped hammerheads are two species is purely a result of genetic testing, not identification of physical differences.

Since sharks do not have mineralized bones and rarely fossilize, it is their teeth alone that are commonly found as fossils. The hammerheads seem closely related to the carcharhinid sharks that evolved during the mid-Tertiary Period. Because the teeth of hammerheads resemble those of some carcharhinids, it has been difficult to determine when hammerheads first appeared. It is probable that the hammerheads evolved during the late Eocene, Oligocene or early Miocene.

There are two schools of thought for the odd head shape of the hammerheads. One states that it is because of the greater area for sensors to scan the bottom of the seafloor for food and the other that it provides lift (Hammerheads are one of the most negatively buoyant of sharks) and added maneuverability. Both of the theories are probably correct . Geneticist Andrew Martin used DNA to study all hammer head species and he concluded that the first hammer appeared on the Winghead shark which have the largest hammer and the rest of the hammerhead sharks evolved one at a time from the original Winghead shark each with a smaller hammer .

A world-record 1,280 pound pregnant female hammerhead shark was caught off Boca Grande, Florida on May 23, 2006. The shark was carrying 55 pups, which suggests scientists had previously underestimated number of babies per gestation.WFTV News

References

External links

• Animal Diversity Web Genus Sphyrna with species sub-pages
• Hammerhead Shark! web directory, with pictures
• Hammerhead Shark Facts fact sheet, general info, shark diving info
• Scaloped Hammerhead Shark Fact Sheet Scaloped Hammerhead Shark Fact Sheet
• "Electroreception in juvenile scalloped hammerhead and sandbar sharks" by Stephen M. Kajiura and Kim N. Holland, The Journal of Experimental Biology (2002). Attempts to explain the "hammer" shape.
• MarineBio: Great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran
• BBC News announcement of new Hammerhead species

Sharks

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