 Despite being one of the most easily recognizable sharks, the smalleye hammerhead has had a long history of taxonomic confusion that still remains to be fully resolved.Its scientific name originated in 1822, with French zoologist Achille Valenciennes' description of "Zygaena tudes" in the scientific journal "Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle"; the specific epithet "tudes" is Latin for "hammer".Valenciennes made reference to three specimens