How long does it take hammerhead to grow?

How long does it take hammerhead to grow?

Shark biologists consider that hammerheads have a relatively slow growth rate. For example, male scalloped hammerheads take between 6 and 9 years to mature (at a length of 1.5 – 2 metres), while male great hammerheads take at least 9 years to mature (at a length of around 2.2 metres).

What is the life cycle of a hammerhead?

Their average lifespan is around 20 to 30 years. The oldest hammerhead recorded was thought to be around 40 years old! According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, great hammerheads are globally endangered. The main reason is the quality and size of their fins which is the key ingredient in shark fin soup.

Do hammerhead sharks take care of their babies?

Groups of these sharks are called a school or shoal. The bigger a female hammerhead, the more pups she will have in one litter. Similar to humans, a female shark is pregnant for about 8 to 10 months. Hammerhead shark parents do not take care of their babies after they are born.

Are hammerheads born live?

Hammerhead sharks are viviparous: they retain fertilized eggs within the body and give birth to live young—from 2 to 42. Smaller species produce just a few young, whereas the great hammerhead will give birth to several dozen.

What do Hammerheads eat?

Great hammerheads primarily feed on prey at the seafloor, such as stingrays, cephalopods (octopus and squid), crustaceans and other sharks. Great hammerheads have been observed using the sides of their heads to pin down their preferred meal, stingrays, while feeding on the ray’s wings.

How many teeth do hammerheads have?

Just like any other shark, a hammerhead shark has short and smooth cutting-edged teeth. They have 17 tooth rows on either side of their upper jaw with 2-3 teeth at the midline of the jaw. They have around 16-17 teeth on either side of the lower jaw and 1-3 at the midline of the lower jaw.

How big does a great hammerhead shark get?

The great hammerhead is the largest of the nine identified species of this shark. It can grow up to 20 feet in length and weigh up to 1,000 pounds, although smaller sizes are more common. Found in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, far offshore and near shorelines, hammerheads are often seen in mass summer migrations seeking cooler water.

How big does a hammerhead worm get in length?

Size Range: From 5 cm ( B. adventitium) to over 20 cm in length ( B. kewense) Fun Fact: The hammerhead worm is one of only a very few terrestrial invertebrates known to produce the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin. The most distinctive features of the hammerhead worm are its fan- or spade-shaped head and long, flattened body.

When does a great hammerhead shark give birth?

Smaller species produce just a few young, whereas the great hammerhead will give birth to several dozen. Birth usually occurs during the spring and summer months, and females will usually give birth in shallow, protected coastal waters.

How does the skin of a great hammerhead shark work?

The skin of a shark is covered in dermal denticles (tooth like structures) and on the Great Hammerhead, there are ridges on the crowns of these denticles that help lead scented water to its nares (nostrils). Not only that, but the aforementioned ampullae of Lorenzini serves as an eletrosensor that can detect the stingray’s electrical pulse.