Hammerhead

One screenshot settles this entry. In the set Rockstar released alongside the October 2026 cover story, a hammerhead glides between the coral-crusted pilings of a sunken wreck, shafts of light cutting through the water behind it and a school of yellow fish scattering along the left edge. The flattened head is unmistakable, which is why it gets its own page rather than folding into the generic Shark entry built on the tiger shark seen in the trailers.

That makes two shark species confirmed on screen, with Michael Kane’s Game Informer interview promising more at sea. Whether the game distinguishes a hammerhead from other sharks in its animal compendium is unknown until launch.

Real great hammerheads patrol the reef line and the channels of the Florida Keys, often in surprisingly shallow water, and they are one of the species the Bimini and Keys dive industry is built around. The wreck in the screenshot suggests Leonida follows suit: expect them around artificial reefs and sunken hulls off the Leonida Keys, the kind of spot the scuba diving activity exists to reach.

Hammerheads are rarely aggressive toward divers in real life. Rockstar sharks have never been so polite, so treat any fin near a wreck with the respect a GTA V player learned off Paleto Bay.

Great hammerheads can tip their bodies on one side and swim “rolled” to save energy, a behaviour only documented by scientists in 2016. The screenshot shows the shark upright, but the animation team has had plenty of reference to work from.