The hammer-headed shark, in common language, is rightly designated one of the most hideous of marine animals.

We mean hideous in outward appearance, for, of course, there is much both wonderful and beautiful in its internal organisation, and in the exquisite fitness of its structure for its peculiar part in the economy of nature.

In the general outline of its body, which is something like that of a cylinder, it resembles the ordinary sharks; and its distinctive feature is its head, which, on either side, expands like a double-headed hammer.

The eyes are very large, and placed at each extremity.

It is found in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in the Indian Ocean, and is noted for its fierceness and voracity..