Scalloped hammerhead
Sphyrna lewini
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Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Scalloped hammerhead: 4.3 m.
Bigger than a car. Grows up to about 4.3 m.
The scalloped hammerhead has a wide, flat head with a gently scooped front edge. It lives in warm waters around the world and often gathers in big schools.
The weird bit
Baby scalloped hammerheads can spend around three years sheltering in mangrove roots before they head out to open water.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Coast and shallows, Open ocean0 to 1,043 m down
- What it eats
- Fish such as sardines and mackerel, squid, octopus and crustaceans
- How worried are we?
- In serious danger (Critically Endangered)Assessed in 2018 by the IUCN Red List.