great hammerhead
Sphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) is the largest species of hammerhead shark, belonging to the family Sphyrnidae, attaining an average length of 4.6 m (15 ft) and reaching a maximum length of 6.2 m (20 ft). It is found around the globe in all the warmer parts of the oceans. The great hammerhead can be distinguished from other hammerheads by the shape of its "hammer" (called the "cephalofoil"), which is wide with an almost straight front margin, its tall, sickle-shaped first dorsal fin, and its strongly falcated pelvic fins. A solitary, strong-swimming apex predator, the great hammerhead feeds on a wide variety of prey ranging from crustaceans and cephalopods, to bony fish, to smaller sharks. Observations of this species in the wild suggest that the cephalofoil functions to immobilize stingrays, a favored prey. This species has a viviparous mode of reproduction, bearing litters of up to 2-49 pups every two years. Although potentially dangerous, the great hammerhead rarely attacks humans and can sometimes behave inquisitively toward divers.
Wikipedia contributors, Great hammerhead; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:00:15.023412+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837)
- Name authority
- (Rüppell, 1837)
- Common name
- great hammerhead
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Carcharhiniformes
- Family
- Sphyrnidae
- Genus
- Sphyrna
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassSelachii
- superorderGaleomorphi
- orderCarcharhiniformes
- familySphyrnidae Bonaparte, 1840
- genusSphyrna Rafinesque, 1810
- speciesSphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sphyrna. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| scalloped bonnetheadSphyrna corona Springer, 1940 | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphyrna couardi Cadenat, 1951 | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| scoopheadSphyrna media Springer, 1940 | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphyrna vespertina Springer, 1940 | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphyrna gilberti Quattro, Driggers, Grady, Ulrich & Roberts, 2013 | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| scalloped hammerheadSphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith, 1834) | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphyrna alleni Gonzalez, Postaire, Driggers, Caballero & Chapman, 2024 | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| bonnetheadSphyrna tiburo (Linnaeus, 1758) | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| smalleye hammerheadSphyrna tudes (Valenciennes, 1822) | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| hammerheadSphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus, 1758) | SphyrnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Sphyrna mokorran Rüppell, 1837 Rüppell, 1837 | synonym |
| Sphyrna mukaran (Rüppell, 1837) (Rüppell, 1837) | synonym |
| Zygaena dissimilis Murray, 1887 Murray, 1887 | synonym |
| Zygaena mokarran Rüppell, 1837 Rüppell, 1837 | synonym |
| Sphyrna ligo Fraser-Brunner, 1950 Fraser-Brunner, 1950 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105817 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4Z2QK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.