Sphyrna

Sphyrna is a genus of hammerhead sharks with a cosmopolitan distribution in the world's oceans. Members of Sphyrna have a tendency to inhabit coastal waters along the intertidal zone 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 by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, while the latest described member, Sphyrna alleni, was described in 2024.

Sphyrna
Great hammerhead (S. mokarran)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Division:	Selachii
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Sphyrnidae
Genus:	Sphyrna Rafinesque, 1810
Type species
Squalus zygaena Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Cestraciom Walbaum, 1792 Cestracion Klein, 1776 Cestracion T. N. Gill, 1862 Cestracion J. D. Ogilby, 1916 Cestrorhinus Blainville, 1816 Mesozygaena Compagno, 1988 Platysqualus Swainson, 1839 Reniceps T. N. Gill, 1862 Sphyra Van der Hoeven, 1855 Sphyrichthys Thienemann, 1828 Sphyrnias Rafinesque, 1815 Zygaena G. Cuvier, 1816 Zygana Swainson, 1838 Zygoena A. Risso, 1827

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The genus name comes from the Greek word σφῦρα sphyra "hammer", it is also where the family name Sphyrnidae comes from.^[1]

Species

The recognized species in this genus are:^[2][3]

Extant

• Sphyrna alleni Gonzalez, Postaire, Driggers, Caballero, & Chapman, 2024 (shovelbill shark)^[4]
• Sphyrna corona (S. Springer, 1940) (scalloped bonnethead)
• Sphyrna gilberti Quattro, Driggers, Grady, Ulrich & M. A. Roberts, 2013 (Carolina hammerhead)^[3]
• Sphyrna lewini (E. Griffith & C. H. Smith, 1834) (scalloped hammerhead)
• Sphyrna media (S. Springer, 1940) (scoophead)
• Sphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837) (great hammerhead)
• Sphyrna tiburo (Linnaeus, 1758) (bonnethead)
• Sphyrna tudes (Valenciennes, 1822) (smalleye hammerhead)
• Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus, 1758) (smooth hammerhead)

Extinct

• † Sphyrna arambourgi (Cappetta, 1970)
• † Sphyrna gibbesii (Hay, 1902)
• † Sphyrna integra (Probst, 1878)
• † Sphyrna laevissima (Cope, 1867)
• † Sphyrna magna (Cope, 1867)