Sphyrna lewini

(Griffith & Smith, 1834)


Scalloped hammerhead
Classification: Elasmobranchii Carcharhiniformes Sphyrnidae

Reference of the original description
Cuvier, G.L.C.F.D. & Griffith, E. & Smith, C. (1834)
The class Pisces, arranged by the Baron Cuvier, with supplementary additions, by Edward Griffith, F.R.S. &c. and Lieut.-Col. Charles Hamilton Smith, F.R., L.S.S. &c. &c. The animal kingdom. London. Vol. 1, 1–680 pp, 62 pls

Image of the original description

Zygaena lewini in Cuvier, 1834 (valid name: Sphyrna lewini)

Synonyms / new combinations and misspellings
Cestracion lewini, Cestracion oceanica, Cestracion (Zygaena) leeuwenii, Sphyrna aff. lewini, Sphyrna cf. lewini, Sphyrna couardi, Sphyrna diplana, Sphyrna leweni, Sphyrna lewinii, Sphyrna (Sphyrna) couardi, Sphyrna (Sphyrna) lewini, Zygaena erythraea, Zygaena indica, Zygaena leeuwenii, Zygaena lewini

Types
Sphyrna lewini
XXXX: No types known;
Cestracion oceanica
Syntype: MCZ: MCZ 460-S USNM: 153587 (ex MCZ 460);
Sphyrna couardi
XXXX: No types known;
Sphyrna diplana
Holotype: USNM: 108451; Paratype: USNM: 110296; USNM: 110297; USNM: 108452;
Zygaena erythraea
Holotype: MB: ? 7814
Zygaena indica
XXXX: No types known;


Description :


Citation: Sphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith, 1834): In: Database of modern sharks, rays and chimaeras, www.shark-references.com, World Wide Web electronic publication, Version 12/2024

Please send your images of "Sphyrna lewini" to info@shark-references.com

Sphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith, 1834), ERB 1054, female, 61, 9 cm TL, Australia © Frederik H. Mollen (Elasmobranch Research Belgium)
Common names
spa Cachona, spa Cornuda, spa Cornuda comun, spa Cornuda martillo, spa Cornuda negra, spa Cornúa, spa Morfillo, spa Pez martillo, spa Tiburón martillo, spa Tiburón martillo festoneado, fra \(T\) Requin marteau, fra \(T\) Requin marteau halicorne, fra \(T\) Requin-marteau halicorne, eng Bronze hammerhead shark, eng Hammerhead, eng Hammerhead shark, eng Kidney-headed shark, eng Scalloped hamerhead, eng Scalloped hammer head, eng Scalloped hammerhead, eng Scalloped hammerhead shark, eng Southern hammerhead shark, eng gebuchteter Hammerhai, ita Squalo martello smerlato, por Cambeva, por Cambeva preta, por Cação-cornudo, por Cação-martelo, por Cação-rudela, por Cornudo, por Peixe-martelo, por Rudela, por Tubarão martelo comum, por Tubarão-martelo, por Tubarão-martelo-recortado, por Tubarão-mona

Short Description
A large hammerhead with a notch at the center of head; 1st dorsal fin moderately high, 2nd dorsal and pelvic fins low [536]. Front margin of head broadly arched with prominent median notch. Side wings of head narrow, rear margins swept backward [17659]. Uniform grey, grayish brown, or olivaceous above, shading to white below; pectoral fins tipped with grey or black ventrally [20050].

Distribution
Circumglobal in coastal warm temperate and tropical seas [20050]. Western Atlantic: New Jersey, USA to Uruguay [5839], including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Eastern Atlantic: western Mediterranean (Ref. 6678) to Namibia (Ref. 6812). Indo-Pacific: Red Sea, East Africa and throughout the Indian Ocean; Japan to New Caledonia, Hawaii and Tahiti. Eastern Pacific: southern California, USA to Ecuador, probably Peru; Bangladesh (see image in gallery); Source: www.gbif.org

Human uses
fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes

Biology
Viviparous, placental [733], with 13-23 in a litter [1388]; 12-41 pups after a gestation period of 9-10 months [2539]. Size at birth 45-50 cm TL [20050]; 39-57 cm TL [2539]. It occurs in all tropical and warm-temperate seas. They sometimes congregate over sea mounts or around offshore islands [17645]. 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 [517] [20054] [17640]. Found in inshore and offshore waters to about 275 m depth [17659] [20054] [17640]; 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 [517]. Permanent resident populations also exist [517]. Feeds mainly on teleost fishes, cephalopods and zooplankton (Ref. 568) [1388]; also lobsters, shrimps, crabs [20218], including other sharks and rays (Ref. 37816).

Size / Weight / Age
430 cm TL (male/unsexed; [17659]); max. published weight: 152.4 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 35 years [2246]

Habitat
pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous [17660]; brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 512 m, usually 0 - 25 m [20084]

Remarks
shark-references Species-ID=6577; CITES: (see: Protected Species for more details) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Speciesof Wild Fauna and Flora annex: II; Council Regulation 2017/160 annex: B

Parasites (arranged by Jürgen Pollerspöck)
Myxosporea
  • Chloromyxum regularis Lisnerova, Martinek, Alama-Bermejo, Bouberlova, Schaeffner, Nkabi, Holzer & Bartosova-Sojkova, 2022 [31228]

Monogenea
  • Erpocotyle microstoma (Brooks, 1934) Yamaguti, 1963 [31265]
  • Erpocotyle sphyrnae (Maccallum, 1931) [31265]
  • Loimosina parawilsoni Bravo-Hollis, 1970 [23771] [26032]
  • Loimosina wilsoni Manter, 1944 [17148] [31265]

Cestoda
Trematoda
  • Multicalyx cristata Faust & Tang, 1936 [25760] [27172]
  • Staphylorchis cymatodes (Johnston, 1913) [11242]

Nematoda
  • Euterranova galeocerdonis (Thwaite, 1927) [17029]
  • Neoomeia sphyna Yin & Zhang, 1984 [21235]
  • Parascarophis sphyrnae Campana-Rouget, 1955 [27694]
  • Piscicapillaria bursata Moravec & Barton, 2019 [27694] [28580]
  • Pulchrascaris australis Shamsi, Barton & Zhu, 2020 [28522]
  • Pulchrascaris chiloscyllii (Johnston & Mawson, 1951) [17029]

Acanthocephala
  • Serrasentis sagittifer (Linton, 1889) [27561]

Copepoda
Isopoda
  • Gnathia trimaculata Coetzee, Smit, Grutter & Davies, 2009 [17188] [22155]


Image gallery