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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing winghead sharks which are otherwise known as slender hammerheads. With a noggin like this, it's no wonder this fish has both its common and scientific name reference its face. The winghead shark's genus name roughly translates to “good hammer” and is alluding to the shark's massive wingspan! A winghead shark's hammer-like head measures up to 50% the length of its body! For reference, these fish average about five and a half feet, 170 cm, at full size which means their face is more than two feet long! It's unknown why these hammerheads have the longest faces of their family members. The current hypothesis is that the added length creates more surface area for sensory organs that help them find prey.

Wingheads are part of the hammerhead shark family, but they have some differences from their family members, y'know, apart from their giant head. Most noticeably is their dorsal fin, the large fin that sits atop their back. This is positioned further forward on their body than other hammerhead species. It overlaps with their pectoral fins, which isn't typical for hammerheads. The winghead shark's closest relative, genetically speaking, is the scalloped bonnethead which has a much smaller face. Like other hammerheads, the winghead shark is dark across its back and pale along its belly.

Winghead sharks live throughout the Indo-West Pacific. They swim from the Persian Gulf around the Asian coasts up to southern China and down to northern Australia, although it's possible they live as far South as Madagascar and as far North as Japan. They prefer coastal waters along continental and insular shelves which are the parts of the ocean near shore that occur before the bottom drops off into the deep. They also enter brackish water environments such as river mouths and estuaries. Winghead sharks are primarily a benthic species, preferring to patrol the waters near the seafloor. It's here they seek out their prey.

Like other shark species, winghead sharks have sensory organs in their head which help them detect electric pulses in the water column such as the beating of a fish's heart. Stomach contents reveal that wingheads primarily consume smaller fish species that live on or near the ocean’s bottom, but they also eat crustaceans and cephalopods on occasion. In turn, the biggest threats to these sharks come from humans. In some parts of their range they're specifically targeted as a food source along with other hammerhead shark species. They're also vulnerable as accidental catches in fishing nets where their wide head makes it even easier to become entangled. Globally, winghead sharks are listed as endangered and their populations are in decline.

Part of the reason they are struggling to maintain a global population is that they take a long time to reach adulthood. Male winghead sharks don't reach reproductive maturity until about five years of age and females take another two years longer. These fish go through an 8 to 11 month long gestation period depending on where they live. The timing is likely impacted by environmental factors such as weather including monsoon season. There are anywhere between 6 to 25 pups in a litter depending on the mother's side and they're born live. If you're worried about how this happens logistically with such a wide wingspan, the babies are born with their wings folded up along their body which don't unfold until they fully emerge. They're about a foot and a half, 45 centimeters, long when born, and they can live to be two decades old.

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