|
Scalloped hammerhead shark
At the Aquarium
Natural History
With that wide, thick head shaped like a double-headed hammer, it’s easy to identify a hammerhead shark. You can tell it from other hammerheads by the ridges along the front edge of its head. The shark’s eyes and nostrils are located at the extreme ends of its head. Perhaps this unusual shape gives the sharks added lift and lets them it make sharper turns than other sharks.
Conservation
Commercial fisheries catch hammerheads for their oil, meat and skin. At certain times of the year, scalloped hammerheads swim in schools of several hundred animals—unusual behavior for predators at the top of the food chain. This schooling pattern makes them easy prey for fishermen targeting large catches. Also a popular sport fishery, hammerheads are caught accidentally by longlining crews fishing for swordfish and tuna.
Cool Facts
In general, hammerheads aren’t aggressive toward humans, although on rare occasions larger sharks have attacked people. Their uncommonly small mouths are much better suited for eating fishes.
Scalloped hammerheads commonly prey on stingrays. One shark was found with 96 venomous stingray barbs imbedded in its mouth and jaws. We don’t know much about how the barbs affect the sharks, or how the sharks get rid of them.
|
Animal Facts
-
ON EXHIBIT:
Outer Bay
- Scientific Name:
Sphyrna lewini
- Habitat:
Open Waters
- Animal Type:
Fishes
- Diet:
fishes, squid, crustaceans, stingrays
- Size:
to 14 feet (4 m) long and 350 pounds (160 kg)
- Range:
pupped in coastal lagoons, then migrate offshore later in life; found around the world in tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate waters
- Relatives:
requiem sharks, which include oceanic whitetip, tiger and bull sharks
|