Smalltooth sawfish

The smalltooth sawfish is a giant ray relative of sharks, best known for its long, flat, tooth-edged snout. It typically grows to about 5.5 metres, with a few reports of animals reaching as much as 7.6 metres.

Also known as: pristis pectinata, comb shark, common sawfish, dwarf sawfish, largetooth sawfish, longcomb sawfish, saw-fish, sawfish, small-tooth common sawfish, smooth-tooth sawfish, wide sawfish

The largetooth sawfish is its only real look-alike in the Atlantic. Check where the front of the dorsal fin sits: on this species it lines up above the pelvic fins, rather than clearly ahead of them.

Its back is brownish-grey, grey, blue-grey, or almost black, while its underside is pale white. A long, narrow snout, called a saw, lines both edges with 20 to 32 teeth. The pectoral fins are fairly short, and the tail lacks a clear lower lobe.

This sawfish lives in warm, tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, mostly in coastal and brackish water. It favours soft, muddy or sandy bottoms near mangroves and seagrass, though it can also cross rocky ground or reefs. It has been recorded from about 10 to 88 metres deep, in water between 16 and 30 degrees Celsius.

When threatened, this sawfish strikes back hard with its saw, swinging it side to side. Captive animals have been seen acting aggressively toward sharks that come too close, driving them off with quick blows.

The saw is packed with sensory organs that can detect the faint electric fields given off by other animals. This lets the sawfish build a picture of what is moving nearby, even in murky water, and locate hidden prey while resting low over the seafloor.

traumatogenic

The smalltooth sawfish is critically endangered. It is easily tangled in fishing nets, lives in a narrow range of habitats, and reproduces slowly, so populations recover poorly once reduced. Historically it has been caught for its fins, meat, and oil, and its body has even been used for leather and stuffed for display. It has disappeared from much of its former range.