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Hammerhead Shark Photos. Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna) photo (and Picture) gallery, Hammerhead Shark species classification and other information.
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Hammerhead Shark - Sphyrna zygaena
The scientific name for a hammerhead is Sphyrna mokarran. Hammerhead sharks are one of the most highly evolved types of shark. The wide separation of the eyes gives it a wide range of vision. The front of the head between a sharks eye is spanned by sense organs, which detect changes in pressure and electrical field. In the case of hammerhead sharks, the width of the head makes these senses more acute than those of other sharks. The head also acts as a wing, improving manoeuvrability.
Another attribute of higher evolution is that young hammerhead sharks are nurtured through a placenta inside the mother before birth. Other `less' evolved sharks lay eggs. Its young are born alive with their heads bent backwards so they don't get stuck in the birth canal. A young hammerhead is called a pup.
Their young are born live with 13 to 42 at a time but many don't survive. When they're grown-up they can weigh over 1,000 pounds and be from 12 to 20 feet long.
The hammerhead is dark olive green to brownish grey on the top and white on its belly. It has rough sandpaper-like skin that is smooth if you pet it one way but if you pet it the other way it could cut you. The Great hammerhead is a deadly carnivore. Its favourite food is stingrays but it also eats fish, skates, and other sharks. It rarely eats or attacks humans but the times that it would attack humans is probably because either they were bothering it or they were attracting it and it was hungry. It has electrical signals that can sense its prey. It also has sharp jagged teeth that can rip apart its prey. Scientists once found a hammerhead with nearly 100 stingray spines stuck in its mouth and gills.
Hammerhead sharks are classified into the order of Carcharhiniformes. That means that they are ground sharks, they have an anal fin and two dorsal fins without spines, five gill slits, their mouth is behind their eyes and they have a spiral intestinal valve. The hammerheads spiral intestinal valve is like a spiral staircase. Food passes through this valve extremely slowly. This slow rate means that hammerheads cannot feed often, contrary to popular belief, and they have a very slow growth rate. Hammerheads five gills allow the shark to breathe by extracting oxygen from the water and then pushing it over the gill slits.
The hammerhead lives in tropical waters. It lives off the coast of Australia and Central America. It can live in three feet of water to more than 262 feet of salt water. Great hammerheads swim together in schools with other hammerheads such as Bonnetheads.
The hammerhead doesn't have that many enemies so it doesn't need that much protection. If it were attacked it would either swim away or bite it.
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