Caribbean Bonnethead

Sphyrna alleni

Pointed cephalofoil shape

Tropical
Regional distribution
Marine fish
Pacific Ocean
Central America and the Caribbean
North America
South America
Small
Tropical fish

Sphyrna alleni, the shovelbill shark, is a species of hammerhead shark found along the West Atlantic coast from Belize to Brazil. Its pointed cephalofoil distinguishes it from the more northern bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo), from which it was split in 2024. The species is also diagnosed by different tooth and precaudal vertebrae counts.

Class: Sharks and Rays
Order: Ground Sharks
Family: Sphyrnidae
Genus: Sphyrna
Maximum length: 6.5 cm
Water: Marine
Distribution: Western Pacific: Belize to Brazil; including Panama, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago. S. tiburo from North Carolina, U.S to Belize have potential contact zone with S. alleni between Mexico and Belize (Yucatan Peninsula).

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