Species profile
Smooth Hammerhead Shark
Sphyrna zygaena
At a glance
Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna zygaena) is an IUCN Vulnerable shark or ray regulated in 7 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.
Bag limits are uniform at 1 per angler across the 6 regulating jurisdictions.
Across 5 jurisdictions with stated minimum sizes, the average minimum is 82.2 in (≈ 6 ft 10 in).
Confirmed by 11 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with New York, North Carolina, and California the top jurisdictions by observation count.
Listed under CITES — verify protected-species rules with the issuing agency before retaining or handling.
Notable details
- Grows up to 13 feet long, making it one of the larger hammerhead species.
- Its wide-set eyes give it nearly 360-degree vertical vision to spot prey.
- Often schools in groups of hundreds along temperate coastlines during daylight hours.
- Gives birth to live pups, with litters typically between 20 and 50.
- Pins stingrays to the seafloor with its hammer-shaped head before eating them.
Where Smooth Hammerhead Shark are seen
Jurisdictions with rules for Smooth Hammerhead Shark
Protected status
- CITES Appendix II (Sphyrnidae — all hammerheads, CoP17+CoP19).
Always verify protected-species rules with the issuing agency before retaining or handling.
Background
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 into a hammer shape (called the "cephalofoil"), without an indentation in the middle of the front margin (hence "smooth"). Unlike other hammerheads, this…
Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Smooth Hammerhead Shark article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.
Other sharks & rays on CatchRules
Photo credit: iNaturalist / Wikipedia. Identification reference only — verify regulations with the issuing wildlife agency before retaining a catch.