Description:
This distinctive shark grows 6 to 14 feet in length.  The head is flattened into right and left lobes.  The eyes are large and set laterally in the lobes of the head.  The frontal surface of the head is irregular and distinctly indented at the midpoint, thus lending the scalloped appearance for which this fish is named.  The fifth gill slit, set behind the base of the pectoral fin, is shorter than the other four.  Body color is typically gray-brown to olive green along the dorsal surface, and whitish along the ventral surface.  Pectoral fins are tipped in black ventrally.  Pelvic fins are nearly straight along the hind margins.  Large individuals have been known to attack people.

Habitat:
Scalloped hammerheads inhabit surface waters both nearshore and offshore, often in large schools.  Juveniles and immature sharks are more common inshore, while mature adults are mostly oceanic.  They are known to occasionally enter estuaries.  

Similar Species:
Scalloped hammerheads are similar in size and overall appearance to great hammerheads, Sphyrna mokarran.  Great hammerheads, occasionally found in the Indian River Lagoon area, are larger, have smaller eyes, and the front of the head has a less rounded shape than in the scalloped hammerhead.  

Range:
The scalloped hammerhead ranges from New Jersey south to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.