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photos of  scalloped hammerhead sharks

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nd110. Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna lewini), schooling. Galapagos, Pacific Ocean.
underwater photo of schooling Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks Galapagos
nf11. Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna lewini), schooling. Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Pacific Ocean
Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna lewini) stock picture Costa Rica
nf12. Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks, schooling
Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks photograph. Sphyrna lewini. Galapagos
nf92. Scalloped Hammerhead Shark amidst fish, upward view
dramatic silhouette image of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, Pacific Ocean


more photos

 

   vitals                                                              bio
common
name
Scalloped Hammerhead Shark
scientific name Sphyrna lewini
range Worldwide, most tropical and warm temperate seas
viewing
hotspots
Galapagos, Cocos Island Costa Rica, Baja Mexico
habitat Coastal, open ocean, and offshore pinnacles
size To 13 feet (4m)
diet Fish, cephalopods
trivia Nursery areas in shallow, turbid coastal waters; often afraid of scuba diver’s exhaled bubbles; surface to 1000 feet (300m) deep
Witnessing a school of one hundred hammerheads soar overtop is one of the most magical of underwater encounters. For reasons still unknown, Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks, Sphyrna lewini, group together during certain times of the year near offshore pinnacles and seamounts in places such as Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos, Malpelo Island off Colombia, and Cocos Island Costa Rica. Perhaps it’s for reproductive or social reasons, or maybe it’s a resting place on a mysterious migration.
     This is the most abundant and widely distributed of the large hammerhead species. Like other sharks, scalloped hammerheads have a sophisticated sensory system, with specialized electroreceptive organs such as the ampullae of Lorenzini on the snout underside. These help the shark to detect weak electric fields given off by fish, even those buried under the sand. Hammerheads also have a magnetic sense, which may aid in long distance migrations. Smell, sight, and hearing are also highly developed. The hammerhead’s unique head shape no doubt improves electroreceptive and olfactory perception by spreading these sensory organs over a broad area.
     Hammerheads are among the most highly evolved (advanced) of all sharks. Sharks are cartilaginous fish, meaning the skeletons have no true bone but are composed of cartilage. Sharks first appear in the fossil record more than 400 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs.

 

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