Hammerhead+Shark


 * Common Name: ** Hammerhead Shark
 * Phylum: Chordata** [[image:01.jpg width="414" height="266" align="right"]]


 * Scientific Name: ** //Sphyrnidae sphyrna//
 * Class: ** Chondrichthyes


 * Location: ** Live in warm tropical waters off the coast of Australia and Central America.


 * Size: **Average Hammerhead is about 11.5 feet long to 20 feet long; weighs up to 500 pounds to even 1000 pounds!!! They have a wide and thick head with their eyes at the margins. Its head is indented at the center of the "hammer", which is almost rectangular in shape.This shark is gray-brown with an off-white belly.


 * Habitat: ** They are able to survive in large range from 3 feet to 262 feet of salt water.


 * Living Requirements: ** Hammerheads dine on fish, squid, and octopuses. They do not typically attack humans, but can be aggessive if they feel threatened. A Hammerhead Shark will use its wide head to trap stingrays by pinning it to the seafloor. The shark's eye placement allows it to scan more area quickly than other sharks can.


 * Life Cyle: ** Hammerheads can live up to 30 years. Once they are born they immediately leave their mothers, who may eat them.


 * Male and Female Differences: ** They are really no differences in the female and in the male Hammerhead Shark, the only difference is that the female gives birth. The male will get very agressive toward the female hammerhead until she mates with him. This is the males way of showing that he wants to mate.


 * Endangered: **The Hammerhead Sharks was recently added to the "globally endangered" species. Over-fishing and the demand for shark fins have made these sharks endangered.


 * Human Impact: **Due to over-fishing and killing them for their fins, we have recently (in the late 2000's) made them an endangered species.


 * [[image:hammerhead+shark+003.jpg width="334" height="265" align="right"]]Interesting Facts **
 * Hammerhead sharks are born with their heads bent backwards that way they do not get stuck in the birth canal.
 * Their eyes are 3 feet apart!!!
 * They use electric signals to help detect food
 * Hammerhead Sharks have about 20 to 40 pups at birth.

Watch this neat video on Hammerhead Sharks!! []

**[]**
 * Zookeeper's Sources: **
 * []**
 * []**
 * []**