What does hammerfish eat? Is the giant hammerhead shark dangerous to humans?
Oceans and seas have always attracted man, revealing unknown depths, many secrets and mysteries. And to this day, despite numerous scientific expeditions and the colossal work of oceanographers, the depths of the “big water” still hide many secrets under the veil of secrecy.
flickr/Eric Orchin
The hammerhead shark deserves special attention, which can rightfully be called one of the most ferocious and merciless predators depths of the sea. The study of this predator has revealed many amazing things and frightening facts that are unique to this hunter.
Hammerhead sharks (lat. Sphyrnidae) are a fast, cunning and extremely resourceful predator that is not afraid of almost anything and easily attacks humans. On the “danger pedestal,” the hammerhead shark ranks third, second only to the tiger shark. History contains many exciting facts that are associated with hammerhead fish. For example, in one of these sharks caught, the corpse of a man was discovered, which entirely fit into the belly of this merciless killer.
Its usual habitat is warm waters, but this does not prevent the shark from feeling quite comfortable in cool waters. northern waters. Possessing a body length of 4 to 7 meters, the hammerfish is “armed” with the amazing abilities of an unsurpassed predator, which are reflected in the structure of its strong and incredibly flexible body.
Evolution, which has been perfecting this shark for more than two tens of millions of years, has endowed it with everything it needs. Ultra-strong, razor-sharp teeth, which are arranged in several rows, and are capable of literally tearing apart any victim in a matter of seconds. The natural camouflage coloring of the body makes it practically invisible in the water column.
Powerful fins and strong muscles allow them to develop tremendous speed. Unparalleled sensory organs are capable of finding prey many kilometers away, perceiving electromagnetic signals, sensing blood and even the fear of their prey. And the shark’s head itself, which is shaped like a hammer, gives the predator phenomenal maneuverability, becoming a movement stabilizer and leaving virtually no chance for the prey to escape.
All this suggests that if a hammerhead fish has chosen a target, then there is little that can save that target. The weight of a hammerhead shark can reach several hundred kilograms, and the largest specimen caught weighed 363 kilograms, with a length of almost 8 meters.
Hammerhead is on top food chain without having any direct enemies. This allows her to attack any fish and mammals that live in the area without much risk. sea waters. The cunning, strength and dexterity of this predator are very often the key to victory over an opponent larger than itself.
The hammerhead shark, like its closest relatives - other sharks, does not have an air bubble in the structure of its body. To maintain its buoyancy, it has to constantly move, which means looking for prey and always being “alert.” It is almost impossible to take this shark by surprise. She always imposes her terms of the “game” on the victim and always turns out to be the winner.
The hammerhead (Sphyrna) is a shark whose head is shaped like a hammer. In India it is called the horned shark.
Why does she have such a strange head shape? There is a hypothesis that their “hammer” head serves as their rudder. Scientists managed to uncover this secret. Until now it was believed that this unusual shape heads with eyes directed in different directions gives the shark the opportunity to see better and aim more accurately during the hunt. A new opinion of scientists says that the head helps the shark to swim and maneuver deftly, but in addition it serves as a good sensitive organ that is able to sense the electromagnetic field of the prey. Also, this head shape allows the hammerhead shark to swallow a large number of production
The hammerhead fish feeds on other fish - herring, squid, stingrays, crabs, sardines, swordfish, sea bass.
Some fish, trying to escape from the fangs of the hammerhead fish, bury themselves in the sand and freeze there. But they also have no chance, because while they are alive, their bodies emit electric fields, which the hammerhead shark captures with its unusual head. It seems that she throws herself straight onto empty ground. But the shark knows that prey is sitting there. She feels it with her “dumb” head and pulls the struggling victim out of the sand.
There is a known case when a hammerhead ate four sharks of its own species, and it swallowed two of them whole, except for the head. These sharks were caught in a fishermen's net. And a voracious hammerhead shark swam by and gobbled them up.
Sometimes people become their victims. Pisces lie in wait for ships in roadsteads and can be dangerous.
In 1805, three such predators were caught in fishermen’s nets. A human torso was found in the stomach of the largest of them. Since that day, the hammerhead shark has been considered a killer.
One of the attacks took place on a crowded beach off the coast of Florida. The girl who was attacked was seriously injured, but was pulled out of the water by the lifeguard on duty. At the same time, the hammerhead shark accompanied its escaped prey all the way to the shore.
It is very difficult to escape from a shark. She swims fast. It senses prey in the water at a great distance. Researchers have received evidence that the broad hammerhead may be used as a fin. This gives her speed.
People kill sharks. But their meat is not eaten. Dishes are prepared only from the liver of hammerhead sharks. Fish will resist stubbornly if caught. Catching a shark is considered very honorable.
But, despite the fact that sharks are caught and killed, there are still no fewer of them. The thing is that every year mother sharks give birth to a lot of babies. Usually no less than forty. They are not in danger of destruction.
Scientists believe that sharks appeared on earth 40 million years ago.
The common hammerhead shark belongs to the family of hammerhead sharks of the order Carchariformes class cartilaginous fish- like the rest of her relatives. It was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, a famous naturalist from Sweden. It is also called the smooth hammerhead shark or the common hammerfish.
Smooth - because it does not have a depression in the outer edge of the “hammer”, characteristic of other types, due to which it is shaped like a bow. Currently, eight species of hammerhead sharks are known to science, these are the hammerfish - roundhead, West African, Panamo-Caribbean, bronze and smallhead, as well as hammerhead sharks - giant, smalleye giant and common.
The basking hammerhead shark Sphyrna mokarran is found in tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, but does not reach large numbers, its length reaches six meters.
Small-eyed giant shark The Scalloped Hammerhead is found in the Eastern and Western Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and is no more than 4.5 meters in length. The common hammerhead shark is similar to the giant shark in almost every way except its length.
Of the entire family, this species has the widest habitat - it can be found in almost all oceans, except the Arctic Ocean and waters tropical zone. It is difficult to determine the exact boundaries of the hammerhead shark’s habitat due to its strong similarity to other species of hammerhead sharks.
As a rule, it stays closer to the surface at a depth of less than twenty meters - but there have been recorded cases of encountering it at depths of up to 200m. This species prefers coastal waters, but it can also be found in the open ocean, and even sometimes in fresh waters of rivers.
In summer, the hammerhead shark migrates to the poles, where it is cooler, and in winter it returns to the equator.
It is the second largest hammerhead shark - the basking hammerhead comes first. Length common shark- the hammer is within 3.5 m. The most large length This species, among those encountered by people, has a length of 5 m, and a weight of 400 kg.
It is distinguished from other hammerhead sharks by the shape of its head - its “hammer” is curved along the front edge, and there is no notch in the center; it is quite wide and short, making up about 29% of the body length in diameter.
The “hammer” is actually its large and flat nose, on which the nostrils are located - closer to the edges of the “hammer”, long grooves go from them along the entire edge right to the center - they help the hammerhead fish to catch odors. Scientists believe that the shark uses this “hammer” as a rudder.
Its eyes are located on the sides of the “hammer”; they are large, golden-yellow and protected by eyelids. Five small gill slits, the last located above the pectoral fin.
There are up to 32 rows of teeth in the upper jaw and up to 30 rows of teeth in the lower jaw. The teeth are triangular in shape, beveled towards the corners of the mouth. The shark's body is streamlined, the body is covered with placoid scales with sharp edges, like most sharks. The skin color is dark brown or olive, the belly is white.
The tips of the fins may be darker. The pectoral fins and the first dorsal fin have a strongly pointed shape. There are two dorsal fins in total - the large triangular first dorsal fin is located immediately behind the pectoral fin, and the second dorsal fin is relatively small and has a sharp, seemingly elongated posterior edge.
The anal fin is slightly larger than the second dorsal fin. Triangular pectoral fins the length is 2/3 of the head of a hammerhead shark. Her body is slender, spindle-shaped and very flexible. Hammerhead shark - excellent swimmer, it can develop considerable speed and maneuvers perfectly.
As a rule, the common hammerhead shark lives alone or in small schools. During migration, they can gather in large numbers - up to hundreds or even thousands of individuals. Their young are preyed upon by larger sharks, for example, the dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus. And in New Zealand waters, adults can become the target of attack by a pod of killer whales.
The hammerhead fish, or common hammerhead shark, is a very active predator. Its diet is very diverse - stingrays, bony fish and sharks, even relatives, and at worst cephalopods, crabs and shrimp. Flounder and stingrays are her favorite delicacy, which is why she prefers muddy bottoms most of all.
Its prey will not be saved by burying itself in the silt - after all, with its unusual head, the hammerhead shark detects the electric fields that its victims generate - sometimes it rushes onto the seemingly empty ground and triumphantly pulls out its prey.
Even stingray scans do not scare her; many of their poisonous spines are found in the stomachs of hammerhead sharks. Most likely, the common hammerhead shark has a strong immunity to the venom of stingrays, which allows it to eat them without hindrance. She is also not afraid of her relatives and larger sharks, and on occasion she will eat them too.
The hammerhead shark is viviparous; its litter can contain 20 or more sharks. Pregnancy lasts up to 11 months, newborns can be up to 61cm long. Embryos are connected to the mother's body through the placenta. Females become sexually mature when they reach a length of 2.7 meters, and males - 2.1-2.5 meters.
The lifespan of the common hammerhead shark is 20 years. This is one of ancient fish According to scientists, this species has existed on the planet for about 25 million years. It outnumbers many other species of hammerhead sharks. She looks terrifying. Everyone who saw her considers her the most scary fish in the ocean. Its description can be found on the pages of Jules Verne's novels.
This shark is potentially dangerous to humans, among the most dangerous predators it ranks third - after white and tiger sharks. Cases of hammerhead shark attacks on humans have been recorded, some with fatal, and in the stomach of one of them they found a human torso. As a rule, cases of attacks become more frequent during the breeding season, because for this it goes into coastal waters, so beloved by swimmers, and popular beach places.
Therefore, you should never enter the water unless the beach is fenced with anti-shark nets. Another reason for shark aggression may be hunger - if suddenly its favorite food disappears in its usual habitat, it may well replace it with a human.
With the end of the breeding season, cases of hammerhead shark attacks on humans become extremely rare. In short, you need to try really hard to get a hammerhead shark to attack you. However, experts believe that any shark longer than a meter poses a danger to humans.
Sharks can smell blood in water even in the smallest concentration. According to official statistics, from 40 to 300 people die annually from attacks by all large sharks. It is impossible to say exactly what proportion of this number are killed by the common hammerhead shark.
If suddenly, while at depth, you find a hammerhead shark nearby, try not to move, flounder or wave your arms and legs so as not to attract its attention - wait for help or swim slowly into the coastal waters. Try not to touch the shark's body - you can easily get hurt by the scales covering its skin, and then it will definitely show interest in you, smelling your blood. Be as careful as possible - then you will have a pretty good chance of staying alive.
But the common hammerhead shark itself is also an object of industrial fishing around the world for humans. Shark meat is dried, smoked and salted, but it is little valued, and there are cases of poisoning. But its fins take the number one place in the ranking for making shark fin soup.
Therefore, most often the hunt for hammerhead sharks is barbaric in nature - they are caught, their fins are cut off and thrown back into the water to die. Shark oil is added to vitamins, the skin is tanned, and the by-products are suitable for the production of fishmeal. Hammerhead shark is widely used to make all kinds of medicines in Chinese medicine.
According to the classification of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, this species of hammerhead shark is “vulnerable”, and it is listed with this status in the Red Book. In many countries, catching these fish for the purpose of obtaining fins has already been prohibited, and in New Zealand, hunting for them is completely prohibited.
This animal belongs to the class of cartilaginous fish and is part of the order Carchariformes. The family to which the hammerhead fish belongs is called hammerhead sharks.
Marine fauna is a mysterious world. More and more often, he reveals his secrets to us, revealing strange animals to the world, many of which are dangerous to humans. One of these creatures can be called a shark. There are many varieties of these fish, some of them have the most bizarre shapes. For example, hammerhead fish.
Hypotheses about the origin of the head shape of predatory fish are very different. Some scientists suggest that this is the result of a mutation that once occurred in an ordinary shark, which subsequently gave birth to offspring. And some consider the formation of a hammerhead to be a consequence of evolution.
What is the appearance of the hammerhead shark and how does it differ from other fish?
The main “highlight” in the appearance of this fish is undoubtedly its head, or, more precisely, its shape. The front part ends in long and narrow projections diverging horizontally to the sides. This whole “structure” resembles a construction tool – a hammer. Hence the name of the animal.
The body length of the hammerhead fish reaches three meters, but there are specimens that grow up to 6 meters! Such a giant representative of this species was once caught in New Zealand. That shark weighed more than 360 kilograms!
The color of hammerhead fish is, in most cases, grayish-brown or gray. The abdominal part of the animal's body differs from the back in a slightly lighter tone.
Hammerhead fish habitats on planet Earth
The hammerhead shark is a resident of temperate and warm waters. Its populations inhabit the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Hammerhead shark lifestyle
An amazing fact about this fish was recently discovered by scientists. It turns out that while in shallow water, mainly for young animals, the sun affects the shark’s skin, and it begins to darken... Researchers called this phenomenon the tanning effect. Who would have thought that sea animals also love to sunbathe!
As for other habits of the animal, it can be noted that these sharks have excellent vision. Despite the fact that the eyes on the muzzle are not so close to each other, this does not deprive their owner of vigilance, but on the contrary, it adds it. This natural “device” helps the hammerhead fish to see prey not only in front of itself, but also to perfectly capture the slightest movement from the sides. The shark sees all objects with both eyes at once.
The hammerhead fish has very powerful muscles and strong fins, which allow it to develop high speeds and instantly overtake prey. And the massive head serves as a kind of stabilizer of movement and helps the animal maneuver in the water column.
Hammerhead shark feeding
The daily diet of this predator of ocean waters includes crayfish, stingrays and a variety of mollusks.
Reproduction of hammerhead fish
During the spawning period, these fish lay eggs that contain embryos - the embryos of future sharks. It is worth noting that before laying eggs, female sharks carry eggs inside themselves for almost 8 months. In mid-spring, young sharks are born. The size of the young is from 32 to 45 centimeters in length. When juvenile hammerhead sharks reach a height of 110 centimeters, they become sexually mature.
Hand feeding a shark is a very dangerous activity. Natural enemies of hammerhead fish
Due to its size, powerful jaws, and overall creepy appearance, this predator has no direct enemies in its habitat. It is unlikely that any of the underwater animals will dare to attack such a monster. It is not recommended for people to approach this insidious creature.
One of the most amazing inhabitants of the underwater depths is the hammerhead fish. Although it may seem harmless, in fact this predator poses a danger even to humans.
Family Hammerheads
Scientists know nine species of hammerhead sharks, differing in color, size, head shape and the waters in which they live. This whole family is divided into two genera: Eusphyra and Sphyrna. In the first group there is only one representative - the wing-headed shark. Her “hammer” is equal in size to almost half of her body, and the width of her head differs from other representatives of this family. There are eight more “sisters” in the second group, the largest of which can reach 6 meters. This entire family is related to felids, mustelids and gray sharks.
Appearance
Many people are attracted by the way the hammerhead fish looks. The body of the predator is practically no different from the shark we are used to. It has a streamlined shape, and the color varies depending on the genus. Basically, the back is dark (gray, brown), and the belly is light. But it is the head that is of particular interest. Its shape is T-shaped. The structure of the head itself depends on the “breed” of the predator; it can be large or, conversely, have small size. But the main thing is that each individual has a unique shape, which is why it is called a hammerhead fish. The photo can be seen below. The eyes are located at the ends of the “processes” of the head. These fish are able to see 360 degrees. It is interesting that in these predators the vision depends on the latitude of the “hammer”. The larger it is, the better the area in front of it is visible.
What does it eat?
The hammerhead is a predator that feeds on other fish, shellfish, skates and crayfish. It is known that these sharks are not afraid even of stingrays, so their diet may include these underwater inhabitants. This fish has a very flexible body, which allows it to make deft maneuvers without giving the prey a chance to break away. In addition, powerful fins give the fish speed. The shape of the head serves as a kind of stabilizer when moving. All these characteristics make the hammerhead shark a winner in fights, even with an opponent that is larger than it. In addition, agility allows her to attack not only predatory fish, but also on mammals.
Although the hammerhead is a fearless hunter, it is a lazy fish. Therefore, some sailors noticed how schools of these sharks followed huge ships for several days, feeding on waste that people threw overboard.
Danger to humans
Looking at the small mouth of a hammerhead shark located at the bottom of its head, you can hardly say that it poses a danger to humans. Of course, this predator does not specifically hunt people, but still it is in third place in the number of attacks on vacationers. The fact is that hammerhead fish become very aggressive during the breeding season, and to breed young they swim to warm waters off the coast. It is in these places that holidaymakers usually relax. In a fight with this creature, a person never remains victorious.
But hammerhead sharks also become victims of people because they are a valuable fishery product. The fins, liver and meat of the predator are highly valued in cooking. These parts are very tasty and are in huge demand. The remains are ground into flour, from which fish products are prepared. In addition, shark skin is no less valuable.
Reproduction
The shape of the head is not the only thing that attracts hammerhead fish. The description of how these predators reproduce is also surprising. They are viviparous, while other fish spawn. Mothers carry their young in much the same way as mammals. At birth, the baby’s “hammer” is turned towards the body in order to be born without difficulty. Gradually, the head of the fish becomes like that of adults.
At one time, a mother can bring from 15 to 30 babies, who are already “taught” to swim well. The length of each reaches approximately half a meter. But after a few months they become one meter tall and show aggression, like all adults.
Habitats
These sharks prefer to be in temperate and warm waters. They can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. While the fish is still young, it stays in shallow water or at the bottom of bays. In these places it is easier for them to acquire the skill of a hunter. Growing up, they go deep-sea diving.
