Sphyrna lewini
Collection Details
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Carcharhiniformes (Ground Sharks)
Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead Sharks)
Sphyrna
Sphyrna lewini (Scalloped Hammerhead)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Moderately slender, with a broad, narrow, bladelike head and a moderately high caudal fin with a well-developed ventral lobe. Expanded section of head is very broad and relatively narrow, width of blade is 24% to 30% of TL. Anterior margin of head is broadly arched, with medial and two lateral indentations. Posterior margin of head is angled posterolaterally. Prenarial groove, located anteromedial to nostrils, is well developed. Upper and lower jaws have 15 to 16 tooth rows on each side. Teeth are similarly shaped in both jaws, with medial teeth possessing triangular, smooth to weakly serrated, and erect cusps. First dorsal fin is slightly falcate, and its origin is above or slightly posterior to axil of pectoral fin. Second dorsal fin is low, shorter than anal fin, and has concave posterior margin and inner margin length about twice fin height. Pelvic fin has straight to slightly concave posterior margin.
Color is olive to brownish gray dorsally and white ventrally. Ventral tip of pectoral fin is dark gray to black.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs from New Jersey to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas over continental and insular shelves, and ranges from the surface to 275 m. It occasionally enters estuaries and bays.
Biology
Food consists of crustaceans, cephalopods, elasmobranchs, and a large variety of bony fishes.
Maximum known size is 370 to 420 cm TL
Litters range from 15 to 31 young. Males mature at 140 to 165 cm TL, females mature at 212 cm TL, and young are 42 to 55 cm TL at birth.
A coastal-pelagic, semi-oceanic shark occurring over continental and insular shelves and adjacent deep water, often approaching close inshore and entering enclosed bays and estuaries (Ref. 244, 11230, 58302). Found in inshore and offshore waters to about 275 m depth (Ref. 26938, 11230, 58302); has been filmed at a baited camera in 512 m depth (Lis Maclaren, pers. comm. 2005). Huge schools of small migrating individuals move pole ward in the summer in certain areas (Ref. 244). Permanent resident populations also exist (Ref. 244). Juveniles occur in coastal areas (Ref. 58784). Adults solitary, in pairs, or schools; young in large schools (Ref. 13562). Feed mainly on teleost fishes and cephalopods (Ref. 6871), also lobsters, shrimps, crabs (Ref. 30573), including other sharks and rays (Ref. 37816). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Mature females produce 15-31, of 43-55 cm young in a litter (Ref. 26938, 1602). Considered potentially dangerous to people but often not aggressive when approached by divers (Ref. 13562). Readily available to inshore artisanal and small commercial fisheries as well as to offshore operations (Ref. 13562). Sold fresh, dried-salted, smoked and frozen; also sought for its fins and hides (Ref. 9987). Oil used for vitamins and carcasses for fishmeal (Ref. 13562). Maximum depth from Ref. 125614.
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (CR), assessed 2018-11-08. Resilience: Low (rm=0.028; K=0.05-0.24; tm=3-15; tmax=41.6; Fec=13-23).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1948a
Gilbert 1967
Clarke 1971
Hoese and Moore 1977
Applegate et al. 1979
Branstetter 1981
Branstetter 1987b
Castro 1983
Compagno 1984
Quero 1984g
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
McEachran and Seret 1987
Bonfil et al. 1990
Compagno, L.J.V. (1984) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO.
Wetherbee, B.M., S.H. Gruber and E. Cortes (1990) Diet, feeding habits, digestion, and consumption in sharks, with special reference to the lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris. p. 29-47. In H.L. Pratt, Jr., S.H. Gruber and T. Taniuchi (eds.) Elasmobranchs as living resources: advances in the biology, ecology, systematics, and the status of the fisheries. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 90. 517 p.
Castro, J.I. (1993) The shark nursery of Bulls Bay, South Carolina, with a review of the shark nurseries of the southeastern coast of the United States. Environ. Biol. Fishes 38(1-3):37-48.
Compagno, L.J.V. (1998) Sphyrnidae. Hammerhead and bonnethead sharks. p. 1361-1366. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO identification guide for fishery purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific Vol. 2. Rome: FAO.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Cortés, E. (1999) Standardized diet compositions and trophic levels of sharks. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 56:707-717.
Bacchet, P., T. Zysman and Y. Lefèvre (2006) Guide des poissons de Tahiti et ses îles. Tahiti (Polynésie Francaise): Éditions Au Vent des Îles. 608 p.
Ebert, D.A., S. Fowler and M. Dando (2015) A pocket guide to sharks of the world. Princeton University Press, New Jersey,
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