Monday 30 March 2015

Creature 181: Sphyrna

But did you know they could tan?

Description:
You can't have a bizarre creature blog without, at some point, including Sphyrna, the hammerhead shark.

Hammerhead sharks earn their name because their head has been laterally elongated to create a wide gap between their eyes. This gives them several sight related advantages including the ability to see 360 ° along the vertical axis.


Like other sharks they are capable of detecting electromagnetic fields. They use this ability to hunt animals living in the sand on the ocean floor.  They sweep their head from side to side along the ocean floor in order to detect any prey which might be hiding.  Apart from that, they are capable of getting a tan if they are exposed to a lot of sunlight.

Distribution:
Hammerhead sharks are known from shallow coastal waters all over the world.

Classification:
There are 9 hammerhead shark species in the genus Sphyrna.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Family: Sphyrnidae
Genus: Sphyrna

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