Interactions

The species Sphyrna lewini has interactions with many different organisms. Sphyrna lewini or the scalloped hammerhead shark is a predatory fish and interacts with mesopelagic fish and squid as a main food source (NOAA 2011). Another not so beneficial interaction that the scalloped hammerhead is involved in is overfishing by humans for commercial use (NOAA 2011). Humans fish for S. lewini because their fins are valuable and their skin is used for foods, hides, and vitamins (NOAA 2011). Because of their interactions with humans they are currently an endangered species list. This is especially concerning because the scalloped hammerhead plays an important role as one of the top predators in the food chain (NOAA 2011). If Sphyrna lewini goes extinct it will also affect the biodiversity of all of the ecosystems that the species are found in.

        

Since the scalloped hammerhead is on the top of the food chain they really only interact with the organisms that they eat. Sphyrna lewini prey on many types of organisms including eels, groupers, other sharks, snails, crabs, and cuttlefish, which makes them pretty versatile in what foods they can survive on (SHEDD 2006). For more information on Sphyrna lewini’s environment see the page on habitat.

For more information on what other organisms that Sphyrna lewini interacts with go to http://sea.sheddaquarium.org/sea/fact_sheets.asp?id=67

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