The common hammerhead shark belongs to the family of hammerhead sharks of the order Carchariformes. cartilaginous fish Just like the rest of her relatives. It was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, a famous naturalist from Sweden. It is also called the smooth hammerhead shark or common hammerhead fish.

Smooth - because it does not have a depression characteristic of other species in the outer edge of the "hammer", because of which it resembles a bow in shape. Currently, eight species of hammerhead sharks are known to science, these are hammerhead fish - round-headed, West African, Panama-Caribbean, bronze and small-headed, as well as hammerhead sharks - giant, small-eyed giant and ordinary.

The giant hammerhead shark Sphyrna mokarran is found in the tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, but does not reach large numbers, its length reaches six meters.

Small-eyed giant shark Scalloped Hammerhead is found in the East and West Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, its length does not exceed 4.5 meters. The common hammerhead shark is similar to the giant shark in almost everything except for the length.

Of the entire family, this species has the widest range of habitat - it can be found in almost all oceans, except for the Arctic Ocean and waters. tropical zone. It is difficult to determine the exact boundaries of the habitat of the hammerhead shark due to its strong resemblance to other species of hammerhead sharks.

It, as a rule, keeps closer to the surface at a depth of less than twenty meters - but cases of meeting it at depths of up to 200m have been recorded. This species loves coastal waters more, but it can also be found in the open ocean, and even sometimes in fresh waters rec.

In summer, the hammerhead shark has its season of migration to the poles, where it is cooler, and in winter it returns to the equator again.

This is the second largest hammerhead shark - in first place giant hammerhead shark. The length of an ordinary hammerhead shark is within 3.5 m. The largest length of this species met by people is 5 m, and its weight is 400 kg.

It is distinguished from other hammerhead sharks by the shape of its head - its “hammer” is curved along leading edge, and there is no notch in the center, it is rather wide and short, making up about 29% of the length of the body in diameter.

The "hammerhead" is actually its large and flat nose, on which the nostrils are located - closer to the edges of the "hammer", from them there are long grooves along the entire edge straight to the center - they help the hammerhead fish to capture odors. Scientists believe that the shark uses this "hammer" as a steering wheel.

Her eyes are located on the sides of the "hammer", they are large, golden yellow and protected by eyelids. Five small gill slits, the last being above the pectoral fin.

Up to 32 tooth rows in the upper jaw and up to 30 tooth rows in the lower jaw. The teeth are triangular in shape, beveled to the corners of the mouth. The body of the shark is streamlined, the body is covered with placoid scales with sharp edges, like most sharks. The skin color is dark brown or olive, the belly is white.

Fin tips may be darker. The pectoral fins and the first dorsal are strongly pointed. There are two dorsal fins in total - a large triangular first dorsal fin is located immediately behind the pectoral, and the second dorsal fin is relatively small and has a sharp, as it were, elongated posterior edge.

The anal fin is slightly larger than the second dorsal fin. The triangular pectoral fins are 2/3 of the head of the hammerhead shark in length. Her body is slender, spindle-shaped and very flexible. The hammerhead shark is an excellent swimmer, it can develop considerable speed and maneuvers perfectly.

As a rule, the common hammerhead shark lives alone or in small flocks. During the migration they may gather large quantities- up to hundreds and even thousands of individuals. Their young are preyed upon by larger sharks, such as the dark shark Carcharhinus obscurus. And in the waters of New Zealand, adults can become the object of attack by a flock of killer whales.

The hammerhead fish, or common hammerhead shark, is a very active predator. The diet of her diet is very diverse - stingrays, bony fish and sharks, even relatives, and at worst cephalopods, crabs and shrimps. Flounder and stingrays are her favorite delicacy, because most of all she prefers the muddy bottom.

Its prey will not be saved by burrowing into the silt - after all, with its unusual head, the hammerhead shark catches electric fields, which are generated by her victims - sometimes she rushes to the seemingly empty ground and triumphantly pulls out her prey.

Even stingray scans do not frighten her; many of their poisonous spikes are found in the stomachs of hammerhead sharks. Most likely, the common hammerhead shark has a strong immunity against the venom of stingrays, which allows it to freely eat them. She is also not afraid of her relatives and larger sharks, and on occasion she will devour them too.

The hammerhead shark is a viviparous, in its litter there can be from 20 or more sharks. Pregnancy lasts up to 11 months, newborns can be up to 61cm long. Embryos are connected to the mother's body through the placenta. Females become sexually mature when they reach a length of 2.7 meters, and males - 2.1-2.5 meters.

The life span of an ordinary hammerhead shark is from 20 years. This is one of the oldest fish on the planet, according to scientists, this species has existed for about 25 million years. In terms of numbers, it overtakes many other types of hammerhead sharks. Her look is intimidating. Everyone who has seen her thinks she is scary fish in the ocean. Its description can be found on the pages of Jules Verne's novels.

This shark is potentially dangerous to humans, among the most dangerous predators it ranks third - after the white and tiger sharks. Cases of hammerhead shark attacks on humans have been recorded, some fatal, and a human body was found in the stomach of one of them. As a rule, attacks increase during the breeding season, because for this she goes to coastal waters, so loved by bathers, popular beach places.

Therefore, in no case should you enter the water if the beach is not fenced with anti-shark nets. Another reason for shark aggression may be hunger - if suddenly her favorite food disappeared in her usual habitat, she may well replace it with a person.

With the end of the breeding season, cases of attacks by hammerhead sharks on humans become extremely rare. In short, you need to try very hard to have a hammerhead shark attack you. However, experts believe that any shark longer than a meter is dangerous to humans.

Sharks smell blood in their clothes, even in the smallest concentration. According to official statistics, from 40 to 300 people die every year from the attacks of all large sharks. What proportion of this number are those who died from the common hammerhead shark, it is impossible to say for sure.

If suddenly, being at a depth, you find a hammerhead shark nearby, try not to move, not to flounder and not to wave your arms and legs so as not to attract its attention - wait for help or slowly swim out into coastal waters. Try not to touch the shark's body - you can easily get hurt on the scales covering its skin, and then it will definitely show interest in you, smelling your blood. Be as careful as possible - then you will have a pretty good chance of staying alive.

But the common hammerhead shark itself is an object of commercial fishing around the world for humans. Shark meat is dried, smoked and salted, but it is of little value, there are cases of poisoning with it. But its fins are ranked number one in the ranking for making shark fin soup.

Therefore, most often hunting for hammerhead sharks is barbaric in nature - they are caught, their fins cut off and thrown back into the water to die. Shark oil is added to vitamins, the skin is dressed, and the by-products are suitable for the production of fishmeal. The hammerhead shark is widely used to make all kinds of medicines in Chinese medicine.

By classification International Union Conservation of Nature, this species of hammerhead sharks is "vulnerable", and it is listed with this status in the Red Book. In many countries, the catching of these fish for the purpose of obtaining fins is already prohibited, and in New Zealand, hunting for them is generally under a complete ban.

The hammerhead fish (Sphyrna) is a shark whose head is shaped like a hammer. In India, it is called the horned shark.

Why does she have such a strange head shape? There is a hypothesis that their “hammer” head serves as their rudder. Scientists managed to reveal this secret. Until now, it was believed that this unusual head shape with eyes pointing in different directions gives the shark the ability to see better and aim more accurately when hunting. The new opinion of scientists says that the head helps the shark to swim deftly - to maneuver, but in addition it serves as a good sensitive organ that is able to feel the electromagnetic field of the victim. Also, this head shape allows the hammerhead shark to swallow a large number of mining.

The hammerhead fish feeds on other fish - herring, squid, rays, crabs, sardines, swordfish, sea bass.

Some fish, trying to escape from the fangs of the hammerhead fish, burrow into the sand and freeze there. But they also have no chance, because while they are alive, their bodies emit electric fields, which the hammerhead shark catches with its unusual head. It seems that she rushes directly to the empty ground. But the shark knows that prey is sitting there. She feels it with her "stupid" head and pulls the beating victim out of the sand.

There is a case when a hammerhead fish ate four sharks of its own species, and it swallowed two of them whole, except for the head. These sharks got caught in the fishermen's net. And a gluttonous hammerhead shark swam by and ate them.

Sometimes people become victims. Fish lie in wait for ships on raids and can be dangerous.

In 1805, three such predators immediately fell into the nets of fishermen. In the stomach of the largest of them, a human torso was found. Since that day, the hammerhead shark has been considered a killer.

One of the attacks took place on a crowded beach off the coast of Florida. The attacked girl was seriously injured, but was pulled out of the water by the lifeguard on duty. At the same time, the hammerhead shark accompanied its escaped prey to the very shore.

Sharks are very hard to escape. She swims fast. Prey in the water feels at a great distance. Researchers have received evidence that the wide hammer head can be used as a fin. It adds to her speed.

People are killing sharks. But their meat is not eaten. Prepare dishes only from the liver of the hammerhead shark. The fish put up a stubborn resistance if they are caught. Catching a shark is considered very honorable.

But, despite the fact that sharks are caught and killed, they still do not become smaller. The thing is that every year mother sharks give birth to a lot of cubs. Usually at least forty. Destruction does not threaten them.

Scientists believe that sharks appeared on earth 40 million years ago.

This unusual creature appeared about 40 million years ago. years ago. They live in the warm subtropical waters of the ocean, often appearing in the coastal zone.

Appearance and lifestyle

Reaches a maximum body length of 7 meters, and weight reaches a ton. The shark's strong, streamlined and flexible body allows it to swim quickly and quietly. She performs sharp turns at high speed.

She has a large dorsal fin, i.e. pretty high. The top of the body is gray, the belly is white, the tips of the fins are dark gray. Most striking is the shape of the head of this unusual fish, which is flattened and strongly elongated on the sides.

No less surprising are the bulging yellow eyes, which are located on the sides of the wonderful head. Her eyes are protected by movable eyelids. Here, on the sides, not far from the eyes are the nostrils. What is happening ahead, she does not see, often turns her head and relies on her sense of smell.

But why does the fish have such a strange head? There is still no exact answer to this question, there are only hypotheses and assumptions. Researchers have found that there are many electrosensory zones on its face, more than other sharks.

They help to catch the exact location of prey to the predator, both at long distances and in narrow areas. For example, if a stingray lurks in the bottom sand, it will easily determine its location. He has no chance of being saved.


The mouth of the predator is located below, under the snout, and the eyes are “well hidden”, therefore, having grabbed the stingray, she is not afraid of blows with a tail with spikes, the defending victim. After all, he will not hurt the predator, he simply will not reach the vulnerable places.

Her teeth are sawtooth and sharp, growing in several rows. It bites, it bites. Unlike many other species, the hammerhead shark is sociable and often gathers in packs. They give each other various signs with head and body movements.

Nutrition

The hammerhead shark feeds on fish, stingrays, squid, and other sharks. They hunt alone at night and gather in packs during the day. In shallow waters, it can tan, its body becomes brownish.

No other animal seems to be able to get a suntan. Rarely attacks a person. Most likely this happens during the breeding season.

reproduction

The pregnancy will last about a year. This is a viviparous individual, it can give birth to up to 40 sharks. The born cubs are head down, they swim nimbly, their body length is up to 50 cm. First, the cubs lose weight. They look like their parents, only small in size, and the head of the babies is soft and bends easily.

In shallow water, they learn to hunt, acquiring the skills of this not an easy task. You also need to have cunning, and not get caught by other predators for lunch. The sooner they learn to defend themselves, the more likely they are to survive. The grown up young generation, having gained strength, leaves the coastal zones.

Lifespan

IN wild nature The hammerhead shark lives for about 40 years.

  • Class - Cartilaginous fish
  • Squad - Carchariformes
  • Family - Hammerhead sharks
  • Genus - Hammerfish
  • Species - Hammerhead Shark

hammerhead fish

The hammerhead fish (Sphyrna) is a shark whose head is shaped like a hammer. In India, it is called the horned shark.

Why does she have such a strange head shape? There is a hypothesis that their “hammer” head serves as their rudder. Scientists managed to reveal this secret. Until now, it was believed that this unusual head shape with eyes pointing in different directions gives the shark the ability to see better and aim more accurately when hunting. The new opinion of scientists says that the head helps the shark to swim dexterously - to maneuver, but in addition it serves as a good sensitive organ that is able to feel the electromagnetic field of the victim. Also, this head shape allows the hammerhead shark to swallow a large amount of prey.

The hammerhead fish feeds on other fish - herring, squid, stingrays, crabs, sardines, swordfish, sea bass.

Some fish, trying to escape from the fangs of the hammerhead fish, burrow into the sand and freeze there. But they also have no chance, because while they are alive, their bodies emit electric fields, which the hammerhead shark catches with its unusual head. It seems that she rushes directly to the empty ground. But the shark knows that prey is sitting there. She feels it with her "stupid" head and pulls the beating victim out of the sand.

There is a case when a hammerhead fish ate four sharks of its own species, and it swallowed two of them whole, except for the head. These sharks got caught in the fishermen's net. And a gluttonous hammerhead shark swam by and ate them.

Sometimes people become victims. Fish lie in wait for ships on raids and can be dangerous.

In 1805, three such predators immediately fell into the nets of fishermen. In the stomach of the largest of them, a human torso was found. Since that day, the hammerhead shark has been considered a killer.

One of the attacks took place on a crowded beach off the coast of Florida. The attacked girl was seriously injured, but was pulled out of the water by the lifeguard on duty. At the same time, the hammerhead shark accompanied its escaped prey to the very shore.

Sharks are very hard to escape. She swims fast. Prey in the water feels at a great distance. Researchers have received evidence that the wide hammer head can be used as a fin. It adds to her speed.

People are killing sharks. But their meat is not eaten. Prepare dishes only from the liver of the hammerhead shark. The fish put up a stubborn resistance if they are caught. Catching a shark is considered very honorable.

But, despite the fact that sharks are caught and killed, they still do not become smaller. The thing is that every year mother sharks give birth to a lot of cubs. Usually at least forty. Destruction does not threaten them.

Scientists believe that sharks appeared on earth 40 million years ago.

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This animal belongs to the class of cartilaginous fish and is part of the carchariformes order. The family to which the hammerhead fish belongs is called the hammerhead shark.

The main "highlight" in the appearance of this fish, of course, is its head, or rather, its shape. The front part ends in long and narrow outgrowths, diverging horizontally to the sides. This whole "construction" resembles a construction tool - a hammer. Hence the name of the animal.

Scientists know of nine varieties of hammerhead sharks, which differ in color, size, head shape and the waters in which they live. All this family is divided into two genera: Eusphyra and Sphyrna. In the first group there is only one representative - this is the winged shark. Her “hammer” is almost half the size of her body, and she differs from the rest of the family in the breadth of her head. There are eight more "sisters" in the second group, the largest of them can reach 6 meters. This entire family is related to cats, mustelids and gray sharks.

Many are attracted by the way the hammer fish looks. The body of the predator practically does not differ from the shark we are used to. It has a streamlined shape, and the color varies depending on the genus. Basically, the back is dark (gray, brown), and the belly is light. But it is the head that is of particular interest. Its shape is T-shaped. The structure of the head itself depends on the "breed" of the predator, it can be large or on the contrary, be small. But the main thing is that each individual has a peculiar shape, which is why it is called a hammer fish. Eyes are located at the ends of the “processes” of the head. These fish are able to see 360 ​​degrees. Interestingly, in these predators, the vision depends on the latitude of the "hammer". The larger it is, the better the view of the area in front of it.

Hammerhead sharks are fast, cunning and extremely resourceful predators that are not afraid of almost anything and attack humans with ease. On the "pedestal of danger", the hammerhead shark takes third place, second only to the white and tiger sharks. History keeps a lot of exciting facts that are associated with hammerhead fish. For example, in one of the caught such sharks, a human corpse was found, which entirely fit in the belly of this merciless killer.

Its usual habitat is warm waters, however, this does not prevent the shark from feeling quite comfortable in the cool northern waters. With a body length of 4 to 7 meters, the hammerhead fish "armed itself" with the amazing abilities of an unsurpassed predator, which are reflected in the structure of its strong and incredibly flexible body.

The evolution that has perfected this shark for more than two tens of millions of years has endowed it with everything it needs. Heavy-duty, razor-sharp teeth, which are located in several rows, and are capable of tearing any victim literally in a matter of seconds. The natural masking color of the body makes it almost invisible in the water column.

Powerful fins and strong muscles allow it to develop tremendous speed. Unparalleled organs of perception are able to find prey for many kilometers, perceiving electromagnetic signals, feeling blood and even fear of their prey. And the very head of the shark, which has the shape of a hammer, endows the predator with phenomenal maneuverability, becoming a movement stabilizer and leaving virtually no chance for prey to escape.

All this suggests that if the hammerhead fish has chosen a target, then there is little that can save this target. The weight of a hammerhead shark can reach several hundred kilograms, and the largest individual caught weighed 363 kilograms, while having a length of almost 8 meters.

The hammerhead is at the top of the food chain without any direct enemies. This allows her to attack without much risk any fish and mammals that live in sea ​​waters. The cunning, strength and dexterity of this predator are very often the key to victory over an opponent larger than herself.

The hammerhead shark, like its closest relatives - other sharks, does not have an air bubble in the structure of its body. To maintain its buoyancy, she has to constantly move, which means looking for a victim and always being “on the alert”. It is almost impossible to catch this shark by surprise. She always imposes her “game” conditions on the victim and always turns out to be the winner.

The shape of the head is not the only attraction of the hammerhead fish. The description of how these predators reproduce is also surprising. They are viviparous, while the rest of the fish spawn. Mothers carry their offspring in much the same way as mammals. At birth, the “hammer” of the baby is turned towards the body in order to be born without difficulty. Gradually, the head of the fish becomes like that of adults.

At one time, a mother can bring from 15 to 30 babies who are already “learned” to swim perfectly. Each is about half a meter long. But after a few months they become meter long and show aggression, like all adults.

The hammerhead shark's menu is quite intricate. And if the basis of the diet is crabs, shrimps, mollusks, fish and squid, then the real delicacy for predators is flounder and rays, which is why many sharks have chosen a habitat related to this type of prey - the muddy bottom of the sea.

The menu happened to get more large inhabitants ocean, including stingrays, whose poisonous spines did not cause any harm to predators. It seems that the body of a shark is able to develop immunity to the poisons of the living creatures, which they are not averse to eating.

If a predator has targeted a prey, the latter, given the shark's speed and agility, have very little chance of survival. And due to the fact that the bodies of all creatures emit electrical signals, potential prey has no chance to hide in the ground.

Driven by emitted impulses, the hammerhead shark unerringly finds shelter and extracts resisting prey from the sand.

Since the hammerhead shark is a pelagic fish, it chooses a depth from the surface of the ocean to 400 meters deep. However, these predators happen to swim both in lagoons and in coastal areas.

As for geographical preferences, these fish are satisfied with the warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.

However, this individual with a sledgehammer instead of a head is also familiar to the northern European shores. But the most favorite place of all hammerhead predators, where they are attracted by an unknown magnetic force are the Hawaiian Islands. Therefore, it was the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology that became the main center for the study of these fish.

unusual shape head distinguishes the hammerhead shark from all other brethren. With all the fame and cinematic popularity of the white shark, not everyone will accurately determine its appearance when they meet, but the hammerhead shark will not be confused with any other.

How did it happen that fate awarded this individual with such a remarkable feature of appearance? There are several versions of this.

If we adhere to the basic theory, then the characteristic "hammer" instead of the standard wedge-shaped head was formed gradually and for a very long time, over many millions of years, with each past epoch expanding a little more in breadth and, in Eventually, acquiring the form that we see today.

Who knows, maybe the process has not yet been completed, and after a couple of temporary turns, the shark's head will look completely terrifying?

However, recent genetic research break the previous assumptions about the results obtained in the course of numerous examinations. Some of the scientists are inclined to believe that these sharks got an exclusive head shape suddenly - due to an unexpected mutation.

Due to its size, powerful jaws, and indeed, creepy appearance, this predator is devoid of direct enemies in its habitat. It is unlikely that any of the underwater animals will dare to attack such a monster. It is also not recommended for people to approach this insidious creature.

She can swim past and not pay attention to the diver, but it is better not to provoke her. From such powerful jaws, there is, alas, little chance of escaping.

In some Asian countries, these sharks are popular among fishermen, they are hunted for real. It is believed that the liver of the hammerhead fish is rich in fats that are valuable for human body. The bones of this fish are used to make the so-called bone meal.