Winghead shark
Encyclopedia
The winghead shark is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 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 Sphyrnidae, named for the remarkably wide lobes on its head. It is the sole species in the genus Eusphyra. A small and harmless species, the winghead shark is commercially fished throughout much of its range.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Georges Cuvier
Georges Cuvier
Georges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier , known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist...

 first described a specimen of the winghead shark in 1817, as a footnote to his account of Squalus zygaena (=Sphyrna zygaena, the smooth hammerhead
Smooth hammerhead
The smooth hammerhead is a species of hammerhead shark, family Sphyrnidae, so named because of the distinctive shape of the head, which is flattened and laterally extended into a hammer shape , without an indentation in the middle of the front margin...

). Although his citation was not a proper binomial name, Valenciennes interpreted it as Zygaena Blochii nobis when he described and illustrated the winghead shark in detail in 1822. Compagno (1979, 1988) elevated the winghead shark to its own genus, Eusphyra, although this was disputed by Dingerkus (1986) on the grounds that it made the genus Sphyrna
Sphyrna
Sphyrna is a genus of hammerhead sharks in the family Sphyrnidae. It currently consists of the following species:*Sphyrna corona S. Springer, 1940 *Sphyrna couardi Cadenat, 1951...

paraphyletic. Since then, the winghead shark has been listed under its own genus or as a subgenus of Sphyrna in various sources.
A phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...

 by Martin (1993) showed that, contrary to the traditional (and intuitive) interpretation that the hammerheads with small "hammers" (such as the bonnethead
Bonnethead
The bonnethead shark or shovelhead, Sphyrna tiburo, is a member of the hammerhead shark genus Sphyrna. The Greek word sphyrna translates as hammer, referring to the shape of this shark's head - tiburo is the Taino word for shark....

) represented intermediate forms between the requiem shark
Requiem shark
Requiem sharks are a family, Carcharhinidae, of sharks in the order Carcharhiniformes, containing migratory, live-bearing sharks of warm seas such as the tiger shark, the blue shark, the bull shark, and the milk shark.The name may be related to the French word for shark, "requin", itself of...

s and those species with larger "hammers", the winghead shark was in fact the earliest of the hammerheads to diverge from their carcharhinid ancestors. This suggests that the large hammer appeared suddenly in evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...

ary history, and was later modified in the other species.

Distribution and habitat

The winghead shark is found in shallow water on the continental
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...

 and insular shelves of the Indo-West Pacific
Western Indo-Pacific
The Western Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the eastern and central Indian Ocean. It is part of the larger Indo-Pacific, which includes the tropical Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in...

, from the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, north to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, and south to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 and the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It sometimes enters the brackish water
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...

 of estuaries.

Description

The extremely long and narrow lateral head blades of the winghead shark, called a "cephalofoil", distinguishes this shark from all other species. The width of the cephalofoil is 40-50% the body length; it is wing or arrow-shaped from above, with small bumps in front of the nostril
Nostril
A nostril is one of the two channels of the nose, from the point where they bifurcate to the external opening. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates, whose function is to warm air on inhalation and remove moisture on exhalation...

s. Unlike in Sphyrna, the nostrils are placed closer to the center of the cephalofoil than the ends, and have enormous lateral extensions that reach almost to the eyes. Its coloration is grey or grey-brown above, paler below. This is a small shark, not more than 1.86 m long.

Biology and ecology

The cephalofoil of the winghead shark is so large as to be almost unwieldy, while the placement of the nostrils and the ampullae of Lorenzini
Ampullae of Lorenzini
The ampullae of Lorenzini are special sensing organs called electroreceptors, forming a network of jelly-filled pores. They are mostly discussed as being found in cartilaginous fishes ; however, they are also reported to be found in Chondrostei such as Reedfish and sturgeon. Lungfish have also been...

 are wider than in non-hammerhead sharks (albeit more medial than in other hammerhead sharks). Along with its basal position in hammerhead phylogeny, this lends support to the idea that this structure originally evolved for a sensory, rather than hydrodynamic, function. The winghead shark feeds mainly on small teleost fishes, but also takes 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 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.

Like other hammerhead sharks, the winghead shark is viviparous with the embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...

s nourished by a yolk sac
Yolk sac
The yolk sac is a membranous sac attached to an embryo, providing early nourishment in the form of yolk in bony fishes, sharks, reptiles, birds, and primitive mammals...

 placenta
Placenta
The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. "True" placentas are a defining characteristic of eutherian or "placental" mammals, but are also found in some snakes and...

. Off Bombay, the young are birthed just before the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

 season in April and May and mating takes place during the monsoon from June to August, suggesting a gestation period
Gestation period
For mammals the gestation period is the time in which a fetus develops, beginning with fertilization and ending at birth. The duration of this period varies between species.-Duration:...

 of eight months. Off Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the females give birth in February and March, after a gestation period of 10-11 months. Litters number 6 to 25 pups, with the young measuring 32-45 cm at birth. Females reproduce every year. Maturation occurs at around 110 cm.

Human interactions

The winghead shark is probably harmless to humans. It is a common fisheries species in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Malaysia and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, and probably also in other parts of its range. It is caught with floating gillnet
Gillnet
Gillnetting is a common fishing method used by commercial and artisanal fishermen of all the oceans and in some freshwater and estuary areas. The gillnet also is used by fisheries scientists to monitor fish populations. Because gillnets can be so effective their use is closely monitored and...

s, fixed bottom gill nets, stake nets, seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...

s, with floating and bottom longlines, and probably on hook-and-line. It is particularly common in catches off Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....

, and comprise a small part of Australian commercial catches. The meat is used for human consumption, the liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

 is a source of high-potency vitamin
Vitamin
A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on...

 oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

, and the offal
Offal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...

 is probably used for fishmeal. There is no scientific data on its population status, though anecdotal accounts and market surveys suggest that it has likely declined in most of its range except Australia.
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