Photo: Kris Mikael Krister · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Description
- 📏 up to 4 m
- 🌊 outer slopes, passes; large schools by day
- 🛡️ Critically Endangered (IUCN)
The scalloped hammerhead is recognised by its flattened « hammer » head, with eyes set far apart, giving it a very wide field of vision. It sometimes forms large schools by day near seamounts, then hunts alone at night. It is rare and shy in Polynesian waters.
Did you know?
In Tahitian it is called maʻo hamara or maʻo taumata, names that evoke the shape of its head.
Source: TAXREF vernacular database
Tahitian names: TAXREF (INPN/MNHN) – Society Islands. French name: Requin-marteau halicorne.
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