Sphyrna tiburo
Collection Details
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Carcharhiniformes (Ground Sharks)
Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead Sharks)
Sphyrna
Sphyrna tiburo (Bonnethead)
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 relatively narrow and broad bladelike head; expanded section of head strongly convex, width equals 18% to 25% of TL; anterior margin of head broadly arched and lacks indentations; prenarial groove absent; posterior margin of head short and either transverse or slightly angled; upper and lower jaws have 12 to 14 tooth rows on each side; teeth similarly shaped in both jaws; anterior teeth have erect, smooth cusps; first dorsal fin moderately falcate and originates above inner margin of pectoral fin; second dorsal fin about equal in height to anal fin, with strongly concave posterior margin and inner margin equal to height of fin
Gray to greenish gray dorsally and pale ventrally
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Rhode Island to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical and warm temperate waters along the inner parts of continental and insular shelves to depths of 25 to 80 m
Biology
Large variety of crustaceans, and to a lesser extent, bivalves, octopods, and small bony fishes
Maximum known size is 150 cm TL
Litters range from 4 to 16; males mature at 52 to 75 cm TL, females mature at 84 cm TL, and young are 35 to 40 cm TL at birth
Found on the continental and insular shelves, on inshore and coastal areas, over mud and sand bottoms, also on coral reefs. Often occur in shallow water including estuaries, shallow bays and over coral reefs (Ref. 9987). Spends night time hours on shallow grass flats, searching for nocturnally active invertebrate prey, moves into deeper water during the day (Ref. 27549). Adults feed mainly on crustaceans, also on bivalves, octopi, and small fish. However, this is the first shark species to demonstrate omnivorous digestive strategy (Ref. 118574). It has been shown through digestability analyses that bonnetheads have enzymes that can digest seagrass organic matter with at least moderate efficiency (Ref. 118574). Viviparous, with 6 to 9 young per litter. Size at birth about 35 to 40 cm. Not territorial. Always occurs in small groups. Considerable sexual segregation occurs. Shows diel rhythm of activity. Utilized for human consumption and processed for fishmeal.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN), assessed 2019-07-02. Resilience: Very low (K=0.17-0.34; tm=3; tmax=12; Fec=3).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1948a
Baughman and Springer 1950
Hoese and Moore 1958
Clark and von Schmidt 1965
Gilbert 1967
Myrberg and Gruber 1974
Hoese and Moore 1977
Applegate et al. 1979
Castro 1983
Compagno 1984
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
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.
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Balon, E.K. (1990) Epigenesis of an epigeneticist: the development of some alternative concepts on the early ontogeny and evolution of fishes. Guelph Ichthyol. Rev. 1:1-48.
Cortés, E., C.A. Manire and R.E. Hueter (1996) Diet, feeding habits, and diel feeding chronology of the bonnethead shark, Sphyrna tiburo, in southwest Florida. Bull. Mar. Sci. 58(2):353-367.
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.
López-Peralta, R.H. and C.A.T. Arcila (2002) Diet composition of fish species form the southern continental shelf of Colombia. Naga, WorldFish Center Q. 25(3-4):23-29.
Gonzalez, C., B. Postaire, W. Driggers, S. Caballero and D, Chapman (2024) Sphyrna alleni sp. nov., a new hammerhead shark (Carcharhiniformes, Sphyrnidae) from the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic. Zootaxa 5512(4):491-511. DOI: 10.1164/6/zootaxa.5512.4.2
Comments On Sphyrna tiburo