Shark Romance

Enter the Bonnethead, a small type of hammerhead which is very abundant in the water around America. The Bonnethead happens to be the only shark that displays sexual dimorphism in the head. Which means that the shape of male bonnetheads head is different than that of a female. While this doesn’t suggest sharks love, it can be said that the bonnethead developed sexual dimorphism through sexual selection. If there is a shark that loves, I would expect it to have some form of sexual dimorphism.

It has recently been found that bonnetheads tend be genetically monogamous. This means the a bonnethead female typically only produces offspring fathered by one male. Although it is worth noting that while a bonnethead usually only has one male that sires their children, a bonnethead shark will typically still have multiple partners. In a study involving 22 litters of bonnethead sharks, it was found that over 80% were sired by the same father. Since the bonnethead is the only shark that we know of that is somewhat monogamous, the bonnethead would be our best chance of seeing love. However this is the only, love-like phenomenon we have seen in the bonnethead.

Sharks do make love to each other, but in a very violent, and dangerous way. When the male mounts the female he usually bites his partner and leaves wounds on the female. Female sharks have even adapted and developed extra thick skin in area likely to be hurt by a lover. It doesn’t really seem like love, more like lust.