Hammerhead Shark

HAMMERHEAD SHARK

Family: Sphyrimidae

Genus: Sphyma spp.

Location: Pacific – Atlantic

IUCN: BR-CA

Sharks easily identifiable by the shape of their head, whose frontal part is flattened, with lateral expansions of varied shapes (according to the species) and at whose ends the eyes are located. They have an elongated and thin body, with the first high dorsal fin and a strong and heterogenous tail. In Colombia there are seven species, of which four have been observed in sport diving. Scalloped Hammerhead, Smooth Hammerhead and Bonnethead are large animals (adults between 3.5 and 6 m) while S. tiburo is a species is a small species (adults 1.5 m). All have a brown-gray color on the back and white on the belly, although the pecs below Scalloped Hammerhead are black. In general they differ by the shape of their head like this:

Hammerhead sharks are warm, tropical and temperate water animals that inhabit coastal-pelagic and oceanic areas, although S. tiburo is exclusively coastal.

In Colombia they have been seen in places such as Cabo Marzo, Punta Ardita, San Andrés, Providencia and are very frequent in islands such as Malpelo, while in Gorgona Island their observations have decreased drastically.