Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus, 1758)

Diagnosis: head with front contour slightly convex, without median indentation, but scalloped opposite each nostril; head widely expanded laterally (hammer); corners of mouth anterior to outer posterior corners of head; eyes close to nostrils, being separated by a distance of about half the horizontal diameter of eye; prenarial grooves developed; teeth smooth-edged in young, tending to become weakly serrate with growth; fifth gill opening about as long or shorter than first gill opening, both somewhat shorter than three middle slits, the fifth being situated behind pectoral fin origin. Posterior lobe of first dorsal fin anterior to origin of pelvic fins; free posterior tip of second dorsal longer than its anterior margin, but well ahead of pre-caudal pit; pelvic fins low and not falcate. Colour: deep olive to brownish-grey above, shading to white below; pectoral fin tips sometimes faintly grey-black ventrally. Size: to about 4 m, usually to 3.4 m.

Habitat: epipelagic and inshore antitropical in coastal waters of temperate regions from coast to about 20 m. Food: pelagic fishes and squids. Reproduction: viviparous; number of embryos to 37; size at birth 50-60 cm.

Distribution: Atlantic coasts northward to British Isles, also Mediterranean. Elsewhere, southward to Senegal, also South Atlantic, western Indian Ocean and temperate Pacific.

Complementary iconography. Herald, 1961, left fig. on p. 30.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948: 441 | Tortonese, 1950: 54, fig. 4. (embryos) | Capapé, 1974a: 339.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Sphyrnidae
Genus Sphyrna
Species Sphyrna zygaena

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus, 1758)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms:

Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus, 1758)
Squalus zygaena Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. X:234 ('Habitat in Europa, America'). Type apparently not extant.
Squalus zygena Bonnaterre, 1788, Tabl. encycl. méth...., Ichth.: 9 (presumed misspelling of zygaena; Atlantic and Mediterranean). Type: unknown.
Sphyrna zygaena: Rafinesque, 1810: 46 Carus, 1893: 513 Fowler, 1936: 64
Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948 436-449, fig. 85-86 Fraser-Brunner, 1950b: 213-219 Tortonese, 1950a: 21, 23-25 Soljan, 1963: 52, fig. Gilbert, 1967: 31-37, fig. 8-9, 21c, pl. 60.
? Cestrorhinus caroliniensis, Blainville, 1816, Bull. Soc. philomath. Paris: 121 (name only; no locality).
? Cestrorhinus pictus Blainville, ibid.: 121 (name only; no locality).
Zygaena malleus Cuvier, 1817, Règne anim.: 223 (French coasts; Brazil).
Zygaena malleus: Risso, 1826: 125 Yarrell, 1836: 406 Lowe, 1843-1844: 8486, fig. 12 Moreau, 1881: 324, fig. Day, 1882: 294.
Zygaena vulgaris Cloquet, 1830, Dict. Sci. nat.: 621 (no locality).
Zygaena subarcuata Storer, 1848, Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 3: 70 (Provincetown, Massachusetts).
Zygaena zigaena Nobre, 1935, Fauna marinha de Portugal, 1: 425 (presumed misspelling of zygaena; Portugal).


Common names:

Smooth hammerhead [En]
Requin-marteau commun [Fr]
Cornuda cruz [Es]
mlat [Hr]
jaram mlat [Hr]
pesce martello [It]
cornuda [Pr]

*Nobre, A. 1935. Fauna marinha de Portugal. 1. Vertebrados (Mamiferos, Reptis e Peixes), Porto.: Ixxxiv+1-21 (Mamiferos); 1-5 (Reptis); 1-574 (Peixes), 77 pl., 64 phot.

Bigelow, H. B.; Schroeder, W. C. 1948b. Sharks. In: Fishes of the western north Atlantic. Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res., New Haven, 1(1): 59-576, fig. 6-106.

Blainville, H. M. Ducrotay de. 1816. Prodrome d'une nouvelle distribution systématique du règne animal. Bull. Soc. philomath. Paris, 8 :105 (=113)-124.

Bonnaterre, J. P. 1788. Ichthyologie. Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la Nature, Paris: Ivi+215 p., pl. A-B+1-100.

Capapé, C. 1974a. Observations sur la sexualite, la reproduction et la fecondite de 16 Selaciens pleurotremes, ovipares, aplacentaires des cotes tunisiennes. Arch. Inst. Pasteur Tunis, 51: 229-256, 329-344.

Carus, J. V. 1893. Vertebrata. 1. class. Pisces: 498-711, In: Prodromus faunae Mediterraneae sive Descriptio Animalium Maris Mediterranei incolarum quam comparata silva rerum quatenus innotuit adiectis locis et nominibus vulgaribus. . . Stuttgart, 1899-93, 2: ix+854 p.

Cloquet, H. 1816-45. Poissons in Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, 60 vol. text+2 vol. suppl., pl. Poissons: Atlas, 4, 85 col. pl.

Cuvier, G.1817b. Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée, 4 vol. Paris. Poissons, 2 :104-351.

Day, F. 1880-84. The Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland. London-Edinburgh, 2 vol., cxii+336 p., 5+7 fig., 92 pl. and 388 p., 87 pl. 1880:1(1):1-64, pl. I-XXVII; 1881: 1(2) (3): 65-240, pl. XXVIII-LXVIII; 1882: 1(4): 241-336, pl. LXIX-XCII; 2 (5) :1-96, pl. XCIII-CXVI; 1883: 2 (6): 97-176, pl. CXVII-CXXXII; 2 (7) :177-272, pl. CXXXIII-CXLVIII; 1884: 2 (8): 273-368, pl. CXLIX-CLXXIX.

Fowler, H. W.1936. The Marine Fishes of West Africa, based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-15. Bull. am. Mus. nat. Hist., 70 (1), Jan. 21, 1936: vii+606 p., fig. 1-275; (2), Nov. 18,1936: 607-1493, fig. 276-567.

Fraser-Brunner, A. 1950b. A synopsis of the hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna), with description of a new species. Rec. Aust. Mus., 22 (3): 213-219.

Gilbert, C. R.1967. A revision of the hammerhead sharks. Proc. U.S. natn. Mus., 119 (3539): 1-88, pl. 1-10.

Herald, E. S. 1961a. Living Fishes of the World. London: 303 p., fig. (plain), 145 col. pl.

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, ed. X, vol. 1, 824 p. Nantes & Pisces: 230-338. (Reprint, 1956, London.)

Lowe, R. T.1843-60. A history of the Fishes of Madeira, with original figures from nature of all species by the Hon. C. E. C. Norton and M. Young. London: 196 p., 27+1 pl. Part I, July 1843: i-xvi+1-20, 1 pl. plain+col. pl. IIV; Part 2, Sept. 1843: 21-52, pl. V-VIII; Part 3, Nov. 1843: 53-84, pl. IX-XII; Part 4, Janv. 1844: 85-116, pl. XIII-XVII; Part 5, Oct. 1860:117-196.

Moreau, E.1881-91. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: I-VII+ 1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881:1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881:1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Rafinesque-Schmaltz, C. S. 1810a. Caratteri di alcuni nuovi generi e nuove specie di animali (principalmente di pesci) e piante della Sicilia, con varie osservazioni sopra i medisimi. Palermo, 105 p., 20 pl. (Reprint, 1967, Asher-Amsterdam.)

Risso, A.1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes. Paris et Strasbourg, vol. III, XVI+486 p., 16 pl.

Soljan, T. 1963. Fishes of the Adriatic (Ribe Jadrana). Fauna et flora adriatica 1 (revised and enlarged for the English edition), 428 p., many unnumbered fig.

Storer, D. H. 1848. Occurrence of the hammerhead shark at Provincetown and at Chatham, Mass. Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 3: 70-71.

Tortonese, E. 1950a. Studi sui Plagiostomi, 2: Evoluzione, corologia e sistematica della famiglia Sphyrnidae (Pesci martello). Boll Musei Zool Anat. comp. R. Univ. Torino, 2(2):1-39,11fig.

Yarrell, W. 1836-39. A History of British fishes, illustrated by nearly 400 wood-cuts, in two volumes, London, 1836,1: xxxvii+408 p., 2: 472 p., fig. n. num.; 1839, supplement: vi+48 p., fig. (2nd ed., 1841, with suppl.; 3rd ed., 1859, additional species by J. Richardson, 1: xxxviii+675 p., 2: 670 p., 522 fig.).

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