Sphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith, 1834)

Scalloped Hammerhead

Zygaena lewini Griffith & Smith, 1834: 640, pl. 50. No types known. Type locality: south coast of Australia [ New Holland] .

Local synonymy: Sphyrna lewini —Whitley, 1949b: 345 (Goodenough Bay); Fraser-Brunner, 1950: 217 (Menapi); Munro, 1967: 8, pl. 1, fig. 7 (New Guinea); Filewood, 1973: 2 (PNG); Allen, 1998: 67 (Milne Bay); Allen et al., 2003: 112 (Milne Bay); White et al., 2018: 186, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (22 spec.) CSIRO H 7612-02, juvenile male 600 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°1’12” S, 145°42’2.4” E, 13–14 m depth, 21 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7613-04, female 530 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’15” S, 145°59’29.4” E, 14–15 m depth, 13 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7614-02, juvenile male 550 mm TL, CSIRO H 7614-03, juvenile male 490 mm TL, CSIRO H 7614-04, juvenile female 520 mm TL, CSIRO H 7614-05, juvenile male 500 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’1.2” S, 145°45’7.2” E, 16–17 m depth, 20 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7615-04 (dried jaws), juvenile male 540 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’55.2” S, 145°43’30” E, 17 m depth, 20 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7616-02, juvenile female 530 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’1.2” S, 145°45’7.2” E, 14–15 m depth, 17 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7617-03 (dried jaws), juvenile female 540 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’3.6” S, 145°37’52.2” E, 16 m depth, 15 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8160-01 (dried jaws and chondrocranium), juvenile male 930 mm TL, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°18’39” S, 146°11’27” E, 12–14 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.006 (dried jaws), Hall Sound, Central Province, 11 Nov. 1963 ; KFRS E.310 (dried jaws), Orangerie Bay, Jun. 1967 ; KFRS E.385 (dried jaws), Torokina Bay, Bougainville, 28 Aug. 1969 ; KFRS E.651, female 980 mm TL, southwest of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’37” S, 145°38’6” E, 24–25 m depth, 26 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.694, juvenile male 510 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’46.8” S, 145°43’30.6” E, 14–17 m depth, 18 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.697, juvenile male 500 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’15” S, 145°44’21.6” E, 17–19 m depth, 7 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.704, juvenile female 540 mm TL, KFRS E.705, juvenile male 510 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’25.3” S, 145°44’36” E, 18–21 m depth, 11 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.713, juvenile female 520 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’47.4” S, 145°47’0.6” E, 20–21 m depth, 12 Jun. 2014 ; USNM 295163, juvenile female 530 mm TL, isolated reef about 200 m south of Wongat Island, Bismarck Sea, Madang Province, 5°13’58” S, 145°45’ E, 3 m depth, 23 May 1987 ; CAS 68163, near Jais Aben boat dock, Madang, 5°9’19” S, 145°47’59” E.

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Whitley (1949b) from Goodenough Bay. Commonly caught in a variety of fisheries, from inshore prawn trawling in the Gulf of Papua to pelagic longline fisheries.