Sphyrna zygaena, Smooth hammerhead : fisheries, gamefish
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Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus, 1758)

Smooth hammerhead
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Sphyrna zygaena   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead, bonnethead, or scoophead sharks)
Etymology: Sphyrna: Probable misspelling of sphyra (Gr.), hammer, referring to their hammer-shaped heads. (See ETYFish);  zygaena: zygaina, ancient Greek name for hammerhead sharks, derived from zygon, yoke, alluding to yoke-like shape of cephalofoil. (See ETYFish).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 13562); depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 5578), usually 0 - 20 m (Ref. 55303). Subtropical; 59°N - 55°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Widespread in temperate and tropical seas (Ref. 13562). Western Atlantic: Canada to the Virgin Islands; Brazil to Argentina. Eastern Atlantic: British Isles to Côte d'Ivoire, including the Mediterranean. Indo-Pacific: South Africa to Sri Lanka; southern Siberia to Viet Nam (Ref. 13562); southern Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii (Ref. 13562). Eastern Pacific: northern California, USA to Chile.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 250.0, range 265 - ? cm
Max length : 500 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35388); common length : 335 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 13562); max. published weight: 400.0 kg (Ref. 9987); max. reported age: 21 years (Ref. 116211)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0. A large hammerhead without a notch at the center of the curved headhead (Ref. 58085); but with prominent lateral indentations; prenarial grooves well-developed; snout short, 1/5 to less than a third of head width; mouth broadly arched (Ref. 114967); the first dorsal fin is moderately high, te second dorsal and pelvic fins are low. Colour olive-grey or dark grey above, white belowm, and the undersides of the pectoral fin tips dusky (Ref. 58085),

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs inshore and well offshore (Ref. 5578), over continental and insular shelves (Ref. 244). Coastal, pelagic, and semi-oceanic, but often bottom associated at 1-139 m (Ref. 58302). Migrates northward in summer; young often in large aggregations of hundreds of individuals (Ref. 13562). Prefers to feed on small sharks, skates and stingrays, but also preys on bony fishes, shrimps, crabs, barnacles and cephalopods (Ref. 244). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Regarded as being dangerous to people, though only few can be tentatively attributed to this species due to its occurrence in temperate waters (Ref. 244). Reported to cause poisoning (Ref. 4690). Caught occasionally by shark and tuna longline fisheries (Ref.58048). Meat utilized fresh, dried-salted, and possibly smoked for human consumption; liver oil for vitamins, fins for soup, hide for leather, and carcasses for fishmeal (Ref. 244). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166). Become sexually mature when 250 to 300 cm long. The female gives birth to 30 - 40 young (Ref. 35388).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Viviparous, placental (Ref. 50449), with 20 to 50 young per litter (Ref. 6871)after a gestation period of 10-11 months (Ref.58048). Size at birth between 50-60 cm TL (Ref. 13562).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborators

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. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 08 November 2018

CITES


Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 244)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 11.8 - 28.9, mean 26.5 °C (based on 3124 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5029   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00398 (0.00298 - 0.00532), b=3.08 (3.00 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.9   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 11.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=21; tm=8.8; Fec=20-40).
Prior r = 0.28, 95% CL = 0.16 - 0.49, Based on 1 stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (68 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 6.91 [1.40, 36.90] mg/100g; Iron = 0.597 [0.147, 1.835] mg/100g; Protein = 21 [19, 23] %; Omega3 = 0.181 [0.072, 0.443] g/100g; Selenium = 28.1 [9.1, 75.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.26 [1.94, 20.86] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.362 [0.178, 0.681] mg/100g (wet weight);