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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New Zealand territory information

Common names: Hammerhead shark, Kakere, Mangopare
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Known from mainland New Zealand and the Kermadec Is. (Ref. 8879). Most common in northern New Zealand. Uncommon in Hawke Bay and Cape Egmont (Ref. 89422). Voucher specimen(s) held at the NMNZ (Ref. 5755). Also Ref. 244, 13562, 89423.
National Checklist:
Territory Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.fish.govt.nz/
Occurrences: Occurrences | Point map
Main Ref: Cox, G. and M. Francis, 1997
National Database:

Common names from other territories

Requin-marteau commun, Cornuda cruz, Smooth hammer-headed shark, ... more

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 Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Circumglobal: tropical to temperate seas.

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 Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 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, the second dorsal and pelvic fins are low. Colour olive-grey or dark grey above, white below, and the undersides of the pectoral fin tips dusky (Ref. 58085).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated; Cross section: angular.

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: Version 2025-2 (Global))

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

CITES

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix II: Migratory species conserved through agreements

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 244)





Human uses

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

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
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References
References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings search; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | 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 = 0.5006   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00398 (0.00297 - 0.00533), b=3.09 (3.01 - 3.17), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
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 = 0.19 - 0.42, Based on 1 data-limited 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);