A hammerhead shark has a wide head shaped like a hammer. This wide head is called the cephalofoil.

The eyes are at the two ends of the cephalofoil. These wide-set eyes give the shark good sight. It also has electrical sense organs. They are called the ampullae of Lorenzini.

The great hammerhead is the biggest kind of hammerhead shark. On an adult great one, the front edge of the head is nearly straight. A scalloped hammerhead is another kind. It has a notch in the middle of the front of its head.

Hammerhead sharks live in warm seas around the world. A great hammerhead lives close to the shore and also far out at sea.

A great hammerhead is found in water from 1 to 300 meters deep. It is often found near reefs and the bottom. There the water is 1 to 80 meters deep. Great hammerheads migrate with the seasons. To migrate is to travel.

A hammerhead eats fish, squid and crustaceans such as crabs. A great hammerhead likes to eat stingrays, groupers and sea catfishes.

A mother hammerhead gives birth to live pups. A great hammerhead pup is 50 to 70 centimeters long when it is born.

Young scalloped hammerheads swim together in large schools.

Words to know

• cephalofoil: wide hammer head
• ampullae: electric sense organs
• migrate: travel with seasons
• crustaceans: crabs and kin

The short version

A hammerhead shark has a wide head shaped like a hammer, with its eyes at the two ends. Hammerheads live in warm seas around the world. A mother hammerhead gives birth to live pups, and young scalloped hammerheads swim together in large schools.

Quick facts

• A hammerhead's wide, hammer-shaped head is called the cephalofoil.
• A hammerhead's eyes are at the two ends of its wide head, and they give it good sight.
• The great hammerhead is the biggest kind of hammerhead shark.
• Great hammerheads are found in water from 1 to 300 meters deep.
• A hammerhead has electrical sense organs called the ampullae of Lorenzini.