''Sphyrna'' is a genus of

hammerhead sharks The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks that form the family Sphyrnidae, named for the unusual and distinctive form of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a cephalofoil (a T-shape or "hammer"). The shark's eyes ar ...

with a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

in the world's oceans. Members of ''Sphyrna'' have a tendency to inhabit coastal waters along the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

rather than the open ocean, as their prey such as invertebrates, fish, rays, small crustaceans, and other benthic organisms hide in the sands and sediment along these zones. Members of ''Sphyrna'' are also known by synonyms such as ''Zygaena'', ''Cestracion'', and ''Sphyrichthys''. The earliest species described of this genus was ''

Sphyrna zygaena The smooth hammerhead (''Sphyrna zygaena'') is a species of hammerhead shark, and part of the family Sphyrnidae. This species is named "smooth hammerhead" because of the distinctive shape of the head, which is flattened and laterally extended in ...

'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1758, while the latest described member, ''

Sphyrna alleni ''Sphyrna alleni'', the shovelbill shark, is a species of hammerhead shark found along the West Atlantic coast from Belize to Brazil. Its pointed cephalofoil distinguishes it from the more northern bonnethead shark (''Sphyrna tiburo''), from whic ...

'', was described in 2024. The genus name comes from the Greek word ''sphyra'' "hammer", it is also where the family name Sphyrnidae comes from.

Species

The recognized species in this genus are: ;Extant * ''

'' Gonzalez, Postaire, Driggers,

Caballero Caballero (plural: Caballeros), the Spanish word for ''horseman'', ''knight'' or ''gentleman''. It can also refer to a indigenous or Hispano vaquero cowboy in New Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Other things the term can refer to: Peop ...

, & Chapman, 2024 (shovelbill shark)Gonzalez, C., Postaire, B., Driggers, W., Caballero, S. & Chapman, D. (2024)
''Sphyrna alleni'' sp. nov., a new hammerhead shark (Carcharhiniformes, Sphyrnidae) from the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic
''Zootaxa, 5512 (4): 491–511.'' * ''

Sphyrna corona The scalloped bonnethead (''Sphyrna corona'') is a rare, little-known species of hammerhead shark in the family Sphyrnidae. Its other common names include the mallethead shark and the crown shark. It is found in tropical and subtropical waters in ...

'' ( S. Springer, 1940) (scalloped bonnethead) * ''

Sphyrna gilberti The Carolina hammerhead (''Sphyrna gilberti'') is a species of hammerhead shark, and part of the family (biology), family Hammerhead shark, Sphyrnidae, found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Their pupping grounds are in nearshore waters off the sou ...

'' Quattro, Driggers, Grady,

Ulrich Ulrich () is a Germanic given name derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements ''Othala rune, uodal-'' meaning "heritage" and ''-rih'' meaning "king, ruler". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

& M. A. Roberts, 2013 (Carolina hammerhead)Quattro, J.M., Driggers, W.B. III, Grady, J.M., Ulrich, G.F. & Roberts, M.A. (2013): ''Sphyrna gilberti'' sp. nov., a new hammerhead shark (Carcharhiniformes, Sphyrnidae) from the western Atlantic Ocean. ''Zootaxa, 3702 (2): 159–178.'' * ''

Sphyrna lewini The scalloped hammerhead (''Sphyrna lewini'') is a species of hammerhead shark in the family (biology), family Hammerhead shark, Sphyrnidae. It was originally known as ''Zygaena lewini''. The Greek language, Greek word ''sphyrna'' translates into ...

'' ( E. Griffith & C. H. Smith, 1834) (scalloped hammerhead) * ''

Sphyrna media The scoophead (''Sphyrna media'') is a little-known species of hammerhead shark, part of the family Sphyrnidae. It inhabits the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, from Panama to southern Brazil, and in the eastern Pacific Ocean from ...

'' (S. Springer, 1940) (scoophead) * ''

Sphyrna mokarran The great hammerhead (''Sphyrna mokarran'') is the largest species of hammerhead shark, belonging to the family Sphyrnidae, attaining an average length of and reaching a maximum length of . It is found in tropical and warm temperate waters world ...

'' ( Rüppell, 1837) (great hammerhead) * ''

Sphyrna tiburo The bonnethead (''Sphyrna tiburo''), also called a bonnet shark or shovelhead, is a small member of the hammerhead shark genus ''Sphyrna'', and part of the family Sphyrnidae. It is an abundant species in the littoral zone of the North Atlantic a ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

) (bonnethead) * ''

Sphyrna tudes The smalleye hammerhead (''Sphyrna tudes''), also called the golden hammerhead or curry shark, is a small species of hammerhead shark in the family Sphyrnidae. This species was historically common in the shallow coastal waters of the western Atla ...

'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, 1822) (smalleye hammerhead) * ''

'' (

) (smooth hammerhead) ;Extinct * † '' Sphyrna arambourgi'' (Cappetta, 1970) * † '' Sphyrna gibbesii'' (Hay, 1902) * † '' Sphyrna integra'' (Probst, 1878) * † '' Sphyrna laevissima'' (

Cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

, 1867) * † '' Sphyrna magna'' (Cope, 1867)

References

Shark genera Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque {{shark-stub