Sphyrna lewini ( Griffith & Smith, 1834 )

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 69

Sphyrna lewini ( Griffith & Smith, 1834)

Scalloped Hammerhead

Zygaena lewini Griffith & Smith, 1834: 640 , pl. 50. No types known. Type locality: south coast of Australia [ New Holland] .

Local synonymy: Sphyrna lewini: D’Aubrey, 1964a: 46 , pl. 27; Gilbert, 1967: 37, figs. 10, 21d, pl. 3, 6b, 9b, 10b (revision of family); Bass et al., 1975b: 42, fig. 24; Compagno, 1984b: 545, fig.; Bass, 1986: 97, fig. 13.1, pl. 2; Cliff & Wilson, 1986: 27; Compagno, 1988a: 35; Compagno et al., 1989: 72, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 120; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 68; Compagno et al., 2005: 323, fig., pl. 64; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 504, fig., pl. 75; Mann, 2013: 283; NPOA, 2013: 48; Ebert & Dando, 2014: 15, fig.; da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 146; Compagno, 2016: 1331; Weigmann, 2016: 881.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 6111, SAIAB 6112 [ex ORI 1545], SAIAB 6114 [ex ORI 1544], SAIAB 201709.

South African distribution: Port St. John’s (EC) to the KZN border with Mozambique.

Remarks: The most common hammerhead on the east coast of South Africa. It forms large aggregations at times, especially during the fall and summer months. The Thukela Bank (KZN) appears to be a nursery ground ( Fennessy, 1994; de Bruyn et al., 2005) as does the Port St. Johns area on the Transkei coast (EC).

Conservation status: CR (2019).