Hammer Fish: How the Shark Became Food

The hammerfish, belonging to the detachment of carharinous sharks, has long been used by seamen as an ill-favored fame. And it can not be said that this predatory fish was more dangerous than other sharks. The white shark is much more gluttonous, active, angrier, after all, than a hammerhead. No, the latter also eats everything that moves, and the person will eat, if the tooth gets caught, but to the white shark and many other colleagues in the zoological classification it is far away. Who says that in the hierarchy of danger, the hammerhead takes the third place (letting go also the tiger shark), who claims that it is even more peaceful.

Why is the hammer-fish considered so ominous? First of all, due to the fact that it is always paid more attention due to the unusual shape of the head. It is the silhouette of this shark, reminiscent of a hammer with a handle, and gave it a name. The predator looks spectacular, of course, so the hammer-fish, the photo of which is decorated with many exhibition stands, is one of the symbols of the ocean. Pictures of sharks in general, look good: strong, dexterous, ruthless predators will not leave anyone indifferent.

There is little information about the attack of this shark on humans, but the starving hammerhead is very dangerous. This six-meter predator has sharp teeth, and in the process of evolution acquired the qualities of a born murderer. True, in ordinary, not extreme conditions, it feeds mainly on fish and shellfish. There is a known case when a rather large stingray was found in her stomach, and one day (even though it is quite from the sea bass area) and a person - the shark allegedly swallowed it whole!

The hammer-fish is viviparous, and for "one sitting" it can produce up to fifty small "hammers". Inhabited fish flocks, however, small in number. In search of food, they constantly wander, swam to where it smelled of food.

The eyes of the shark are located at the edges of the hammer-shaped head, and theoretically, the site just before her nose is a "dead zone", which the shark simply does not see. But to check on their own experience, whether this is in fact, is not recommended to anyone. After all, the hammer-fish, like any shark, is guided in the water column mainly by smell and sound, and vision plays only an auxiliary role. And then, it is necessary for the sharks to change the position of the head a little (turn to the side, for example), as the "dead zone" will become for the experimenter in the most literal sense.

Why does the fish have such an unusual shape of the head? This issue has long been tormented by zoologists. The answer to it was found only recently. It turned out that a flat hammer head is a natural electromagnetic locator, and such an unusual shape is needed for its effective work - scanning the surrounding space in search of food.

It is possible that the head of this form needs a shark and to use it as an additional fin. It's no secret that the hammerhead is much more mobile and manoeuvrable in the water than other sharks. It is such a perfect organism that it could quickly breed in huge quantities, if not for the person who catches this predator, regulating its numbers.

As they say, not all cats are carnival, and predators, eating everything around them, often become food themselves. According to the gourmet, the soup from the fins of the hammerhead fish is an unearthly delicacy. Meat, they say, is also delicious, but to the fin's ear is far away - both in terms of gastronomic achievements, and in terms of price.