Scalloped bonnethead
Encyclopedia
The scalloped bonnethead, Sphyrna corona, is a rare, little-known species of hammerhead shark
Hammerhead shark
The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks in the family Sphyrnidae, so named for the unusual and distinctive structure of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a "hammer" shape called a "cephalofoil". Most hammerhead species are placed in the genus Sphyrna while the...

, family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Sphyrnidae. Its other common names include the mallethead shark and the crown shark. It is found in tropical and subtropical waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, and possibly as far north as the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...

. It frequents inshore habitats over soft bottoms (mud, sand, and gravel) to a depth of 100 m, and also enters mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

s and estuaries.

Probably the smallest species of hammerhead shark, the scalloped bonnethead measures up to 92 cm long. Its mallet-shaped head, called a "cephalofoil", is moderately wide (24-29% of total length) and elongated lengthwise. The front margin is broadly arched, with shallow lateral and medial indentations, and no prenarial grooves. The mouth is small and strongly arched. The anal fin is long and has a nearly straight rear margin. Its coloration is gray above and white below, with no prominent fin markings. The similar scoophead
Scoophead
The scoophead is a little-known species of hammerhead shark, family Sphyrnidae, occurring in the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from Panama to southern Brazil, and in the eastern Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California to Ecuador and probably northern Peru...

 (Sphyrna media) can be distinguished by a shorter snout, broader mouth, and a deeply concave anal fin margin.

Like other hammerheads, the scalloped bonnethead is viviparous, with presumably 2 pups per litter. The young are born at 23 cm or above; an adolescent male has been recorded at 51 cm long, and an adult at 67 cm. It may be taken by local inshore fisheries, but data is lacking. It feeds on or near the bottom, on mobile crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

s and molluscs, cephalopod
Cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...

s, echinoderm
Echinoderm
Echinoderms are a phylum of marine animals. Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone....

s, and bony fishes.
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