smalleye hammerhead
Sphyrna tudes (Valenciennes, 1822)
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 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 Atlantic Ocean, from Venezuela to Uruguay. It favors muddy habitats with poor visibility, reflected by its relatively small eyes. Adult males and juveniles are schooling and generally found apart from the solitary adult females. Typically reaching 1.2–1.3 m (3.9–4.3 ft) in length, this shark has a unique, bright golden color on its head, sides, and fins, which was only scientifically documented in the 1980s. As in all hammerheads, its head is flattened and laterally expanded into a hammer-shaped structure called the cephalofoil, which in this species is wide and long with an arched front margin bearing central and lateral indentations. The yellow-orange pigments of the smalleye hammerhead seem to have been acquired from the penaeid shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri, the main food of juvenile sharks, and from sea catfish and their eggs, the main food of adults.
Wikipedia contributors, Smalleye hammerhead; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:41:37.016451+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sphyrna tudes (Valenciennes, 1822)
- Name authority
- (Valenciennes, 1822)
- Common name
- smalleye 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 tudes (Valenciennes, 1822)
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 |
| great hammerheadSphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837) | 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 |
| 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 bigelowi Springer, 1944 Springer, 1944 | synonym |
| Sphyraena tudes (Valenciennes, 1822) (Valenciennes, 1822) | synonym |
| Zygaena tudes Valenciennes, 1822 Valenciennes, 1822 | synonym |
| Spyrna tudes (Valenciennes, 1822) (Valenciennes, 1822) | synonym |
| Cestracion tudes (Valenciennes, 1822) (Valenciennes, 1822) | 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=105818 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:4Z2QR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.