Scoophead Shark Sphyrna media pictures and information

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View all available Scoophead Shark Images in the Shark Pictures Database

Common Names: Scoophead shark, Scalloped bonnethead shark, golden hammerhead.

Latin Name: Sphyrna media

Family: Sphyrnidae

Identification: Hammer narrow. Leading edge of hammer slightly scalloped with poorly defined indentations. No prominent central indentation. No prenarial grooves. Mouth roughly 1/3rd of hammer width (similar mallethead shark sphyrna corona mouth 2/5ths hammer width). Fins mostly plain with slight dusky tips. Anal fin long with falcate free tip. 1st dorsal fin high and falcate, second much lower. Dorsal surface greyish brown / gold. Ventral surface pale.

Size: Maximum length 150 cm. Commonly 100 cm. 34 cm at birth.

Habitat: Inshore turbid bays, estuaries and rivers as well as continental shelves.

Abundance and distribution: Confined to Central America and Northern South America. Western Atlantic from Panama to Southern Brazil. Eastern Pacific from the Sea of Cortez to Ecuador and possibly south to Peru.

Taken incidentally by gill netters in Panama Bay, Panama.

IUCN Status: Data deficient. A common bycatch in the mackerel fishery.

Feeding Behavior: Feeds mainly on small sharks, octopus, squids and flounders.

Reproduction: Viviparous. Hammerhead sharks are considered the most highly evolved of the shark families.

Photographs: Isla Chepillo, Bahia de Panama, Panama, Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Similar species: The scoophead shark shares much of its Pacific range with the mallethead shark Sphyrna corona which has a thinner mouth, a longer snout and a less concave anal fin. It shares its Atlantic range with the Golden or smalleye hammerhead which has a well defined central indent in the anterior margin of its hammer.

Reaction to divers: Unknown.

Diving logistics: Scoophead sharks live in turbit estuarine environments. Consequently, they are rarely (if ever) encountered by divers. These Scoophead Shark images are of an animal released from a gillnet in the mouth of the Rio Bayano in Panama Bay.

Any locations where scoophead sharks can be seen or photographed in their natural environment would be welcome.

Diving locations submitted by readers:

References and further reading:

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=913&AT=scoophead+shark

http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/60201/0

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