Hammerhead shark – Sphyrna zygaena

The hammerhead shark is undeniably one of the strangest creatures of the sea.

A flattened snout like a hammer head makes it easy to distinguish from all other shark species.

Its eyes and nostrils are located at the end of the cephalic lobes. Laterally swinging its long snout, hammerhead shark gets a panoramic view of the immediate surroundings. Its wide field of view gives it an advantage for locating prey.

The size varies by species between 1 and 6 m long.

The largest of these sharks are voracious predators that can be potentially dangerous to humans.

There are nine species of hammerhead sharks:

• Great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran
• Hammerhead smalleye, Sphyrna tudes
• Hammerhead white wing, Sphyrna couardi
• Hammerhead horned, Sphyrna corona
• Hammerhead scoop, Sphyrna media
• Hammerhead Alicorne, Sphyrna lewini
• Hammerhead shark, Sphyrna zygaena
• Hammerhead tiburo, Sphyrna tiburo
• Hammerhead glider, Eusphyra blocchi