D I S C O V E R   L I F E   
  HomeIDnature guidesGlobal mapperSearchHelp  
   

Sphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837)
GREAT HAMMERHEAD
Hoe-head Shark; Cestracion mokarran Rüppell, 1837; Sphyrna ligo Fraser-Brunner, 1950; Zygaena mokarran Rüppell, 1837

Life   Vertebrata   Fish   Sphyrnidae   Sphyrna



Sphyrna mokarran
© Copyright Ross Robertson, 2006 · 12
Sphyrna mokarran

Click on images or map to enlarge and for details.
80x5 - 240x3 - 240x4 - 320x1 - 320x2 - 320x3 - 640x1 - 640x2
Set display option above.
Click on images to enlarge.
Sphyrna mokarran
© Copyright Photographer/SFTEP, 2002 · 0
Sphyrna mokarran
Sphyrna mokarran
© Copyright Photographer/SFTEP, 2002 · 0
Sphyrna mokarran

See
IDnature guides
Overview
Main identification features
  • hammer: wide, front straight + slight notch
  • 1st dorsal fin : very tall, pointed, curved
  • 2nd dorsal fin greater than 3rd gill slit
A hammerhead shark with broad, narrow-blade side extensions on the head (with of hammer 23-27% of total length); front margin of head nearly straight in adults, with shallow central and side indentations; first dorsal fin very tall and curved, with pointed tip; height of second dorsal fin > length of 3rd gill slit; second dorsal and anal fins with strongly notched rear edges, their bases about equal; pelvics large, with concave rear borders.

Grey brown on back and sides, whitish below; no prominent markings on fins.

Said to reach 610 cm, but uncommon above 350 cm; size at birth 50-70 cm.

A coastal pelagic and semi- oceanic species.

Depth range 1-300 m.

Circumtropical distribution, in the eastern Pacific from southern Baja California and the Gulf of California to northern Peru, Malpelo and the Galapagos.


Attributes

Abundance: Common.

Cites: Not listed.

Climate Zone: North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California); Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap); Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos); Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo); South Temperate (Peruvian Province ).

Depth Range Max: 300 m.

Depth Range Min: 0 m.

Diet: octopus/squid/cuttlefish; mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves; sharks/rays; mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs); bony fishes.

Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=32; Southern limit=-15; Western limit=-115; Eastern limit=-73; Latitudinal range=47; Longitudinal range=42.

Egg Type: Live birth; No pelagic larva.

Feeding Group: Carnivore.

FishBase Habitat: Pelagic.

Global Endemism: Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans); East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West); Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America); East Pacific + all Atlantic (East+West); TEP non-endemic; West + East Pacific (but not Central); "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All species.

Habitat: Water column; Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom); Reef (rock &/or coral); Reef and soft bottom; Corals; Soft bottom (mud, sand,gravel, beach, estuary & mangrove).

Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Offshore; In & Offshore.

IUCN Red List: Data deficient; Listed.

Length Max: 610 cm.

Regional Endemism: Island (s); Continent; Continent + Island (s); Eastern Pacific non-endemic; Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; All species.

Residency: Resident.

Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.

Water Column Position: Mid Water; Near Bottom; Bottom;

Names
Scientific source:
Links to other sites


References
  • Béarez, P., 1996., Lista de los Peces Marinos del Ecuador Continental., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 44:731-741.
  • Castri-Aguirre, J.L., Espinoza-Pérez, H. and Schmitter-Soto, J.J., 2002., Lista sitemática, biogeográfica y ecológica de la ictiofauna estuarino lagunar y vicaria de México. En: Lozano-Vilano, M. L. (Ed.). Libro Jubilar en Honor al Dr. Salvador Contreras Balderas., Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León:117-142.
  • Castro-Aguirre, J.L., 1999., Ictiofauna estuarino-lagunar y vicaria de México., Editorial Limusa S.A. de C.V.: 1-629pp.
  • Compagno, L.J.V., 1999., Checklist of living elasmobranchs. In Hamlett W.C. (ed.) Sharks, skates, and rays: the biology of elasmobranch fishes., The John Hopkins University Press:471-498.
  • Compagno, L.J.V., 1984., Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Species Catalogue., FAO Fish. Synop. No 125, 4(2):251-655.
  • Findley, L.T., Hendrickx, M.E., Brusca, R.C., van der Heiden, A.M., Hastings, P.A., Torre, J., 2003., Diversidad de la Macrofauna Marina del Golfo de California, Mexico., CD-ROM versión 1.0. Projecto de la Macrofauna del Golfo .  Derechos reservados de los autores y Conservación Internacional.
  • Fischer , W. , Krup , F. , Schneider , W. , Sommer , C. , Carpenter , K. E. and Niem, V. H., 1995., Guia FAO para la Identificacion de Especies de para los fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. Volumen II. Vertebrados - Parte 1., FAO2:647-1200.
  • Galván-Magaña, F., Gutiérrez-Sánchez, F., Abitia-Cárdenas, L.A., Rodríguez-Romero, J., 2000., The distribution and affinities of the shore fishes of the Baja California Sur lagoons. In Aquatic Ecosystems of Mexico: Status and Scope. Eds. M. Manuwar, S.G. Lawrence, I.F. Manuwar & D.F. Malley. Ecovision World Monograph Series., Backhuys Publishers:383-398.
  • Jimenez-Prado, P., Béarez, P., 2004., Peces marinos del Ecuador continental / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador., SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA tomo 1 y 2.
  • Lopez , M. I. and Bussing, W. A., 1982., Lista provisional de los peces marinos de la Costa Rica., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 30(1):5-26.
  • Love, M.S., Mecklenburg, C.W., Mecklenburg, T.A., Thorsteinson, L.K., 2005., es of the West Coast and Alaska: a checklist of North Pacific and Artic Ocena species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border., U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, 288pp.
  • Ramírez Rodríguez, M., 1997., Producción pesquera en la Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S.. En Urbán Ramírez, J. y M. Ramírez Rodríguez (Eds.). La Bahía de La Paz investigación y conservación., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur:273-282.
  • Rubio, E.A., 1986., Notas sobre la ictiofauna de la Isla de Gorgona, Colombia., Boletin Ecotropica. Univ. Bog. Jorge Tadeo Lozano, 13:86-112.
  • Rüppell, W. P. E. S., 1837., Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig., Fische des Rothen Meeres, 1837:53-80.
  • Snodgrass , R. E. and Heller, E., 1905., Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos expedition, 1898-1899. XVII. Shorefishes of the Revillagigedo, Clipperton, Cocos and Galapagos Island., Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., 6:333-427.
  • Van der Heiden , A. M. and Findley, L. T., 1988., Lista de los peces marinos del sur de Sinaloa, México., Anales del Centro de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia de la Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico, 15:209-224.
  • Villavicencio Garayzar , C. J. , Mariano Meléndez , E. and Downton Hoffmann, C., 1997., Tiburones capturados comercialmente en la Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S.. En Urbán Ramírez, J. y M. Ramírez Rodríguez (Eds.). La Bahía de La Paz investigación y conservación., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur:201-236.


Acknowledgements

I thank Ashley MacDonald and John Pickering, University of Georgia, for technical support in building this page.


Top
Updated: 2024-09-11 05:53:06 gmt
© Designed by The Polistes Corporation