Sphyrna mokarran Sphyrna mokarran, the Great Hammerhead Shark, is a Chronodrichtyes, a cartilaginous fish in taxonomic species term. The skeletal structure of hammerheads is made of hard cartilage rather than bone. Furthermore, the hammerhead shark is found in the Chordata phylum and is a part of the Vertebrata sub-phylum, therefore they have a notochord, spinal cord, and backbone; a notochord is a long, flexible rod that runs down the longitudinal part of the body and is made out of cells in a tough fibrous coat. The notochord is very important because, without it, the shark's movement would cause the entire body to shorten and contract instead of having side-to-side body flexion for swimming like the hammerhead depends on. Secondly, hammerhead…show more content… Using their head, the shark will use the hammer portion when catching prey to pin them down, rip pieces off, and eat them. Like many marine species, the hammerhead reproduces sexually through internal fertilization and unionization of egg and sperm. However, unlike other sharks, hammerheads do not lay eggs, rather, they give birth to live young. Moreover, the gestation period of the shark can vary anywhere from six months to two years, depending on the amount of pups. One litter of pups can range from six pups to fifty pups; when born, pups have round heads that later grow into the hammer shape. These incredible creatures are not only fascinating to research, but they are also an important factor in the United States economy. The hammerhead shark contributes to shark diving tourism in coastal cities; the income from shark diving has a higher revenue than catching and killing the sharks for meat and their fins. This fact also makes it renewable because it not only brings in more annual income, but it is a recurring and easily accessible income, whereas if you kill the shark, it is only a one-time
