Sealife guideThe great hammerhead sharkSphyrna mokarran

Taxonomy

Common name: Great hammerhead shark
French name: Grand requin marteau
Spanish name: Cornuda gigante
Scientific name: Sphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837)
Family name: Sphyrnidae
Order name: Carcharhiniformes
Class name: Elasmobranchii

Description

The great hammerhead shark gets its name from its wide, flattened, T-shaped head resembling a hammer, as well as its size. The great hammerhead shark is the largest species of hammerhead sharks with a maximum length that can exceptionally reach 20 feet while its commonly observed maximum length is around 13 feet.

The great hammerhead shark with its characteristic T-shaped head © Frhojdysz | Dreamstime.com

On average, it measures about 10 feet in length with males being larger than females.

The great hammerhead shark has an elongated body with a brownish to grayish dorsal side and a whitish ventral side. It also has a tall, pointed dorsal fin.

Like most sharks, the great hammerhead shark has 5 pairs of gill slit..

Range

The great hammerhead shark is widely distributed in the warm tropical and temperate waters of the seas and oceans around the globe. It can be found at depths of up to 1,000 feet.

Notably, it is found along the western coasts of the Atlantic ocean, from North Carolina in the United States down to Uruguay in the south, passing through Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

Habitat

The great hammerhead shark is a pelagic fish that moves alone. It lives both along the coast and in the open ocean.

Diet

Equipped with exceptional vision due to the placement of its eyes and enhanced by its sensory abilities, the great hammerhead shark is a formidable nocturnal hunter. It is a carnivorous fish that primarily feeds on stingrays which it uncovers in the sand, as well as tuna, crustaceans and cephalopods.

The great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) © Michael Valos | Dreamstime.com

Reproduction

The great hammerhead shark only reproduces once every two years, making the species' offspring highly vulnerable when accidentally caught in fishing nets. The gestation period for the great hammerhead shark is slightly longer than that of humans, lasting 11 months. The female is ovoviviparous and can give birth to anywhere from 6 to 42 baby sharks.

At birth, baby hammerhead sharks are already about 20 to 28 inches in length.

Did you know ?

Great hammerhead shark populations are declining across the oceans and as a result, the great hammerhead shark has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2018.

The great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) © Michael Valos | Dreamstime.com

The great hammerhead shark has a long lifespan which can reach up to 40 years.

Within the same genus

Scalloped hammerhead
(Sphyrna lewini)

Bonnethead shark
(Sphyrna tiburo)

Within the same family

Hammerhead shark
(9 espèces)

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