The sawfish is a primitive type of fish that belongs to the order Pristiformes. It is also classified as a type of elasmobrach, which is the group of fish that sharks, skates, and rays also belong to. Because of its long ‘saw’ that projects from its nose, the sawfish is one of the most recognized and unusual types of large fish still in existence.
Sawfish are actually a type of ray rather than shark. The distinction between a ray and a shark is defined by the body type and the position of the gills. Sawfish have flattened bodies and very wide pectoral fins which is similar in appearance to a ray. They also have their gills and mouth underneath their head and use spiracles located on the top of their head to pump water through their gills, much like a ray does. Sawfish spend most of their time sitting motionless on the sandy bottoms, as do other species of rays, where they wait for prey to pass by. The remaining portion of the sawfish’s body resembles more of a shark as they have a tall dorsal fin in the middle of their back followed by a slightly shorter second dorsal fin. The tail is long and looks like a classic shark’s tail. Similar to sharks, sawfish give birth to live baby sawfish, which are known as pups. Their tiny saws are covered in a membrane sheath at birth to protect the mother as they are born.
Sawfish are often confused with the saw shark, which also has a saw. The distinguishing features of a saw shark are the presence of barbels, a long and narrow body, and gills on the sides of its neck.
The saw of the sawfish is known as a rostrum and is used to root for prey under the sand or mud and to slash through schools of fish. The saw is covered with sharp teeth that can be large or small depending on the species of sawfish. As the saw is thrashed through schools of fish, it can rip and shred the fish into pieces that get stuck to the saw. The sawfish then wipes its saw on the sea floor and eats the fish parts. Fish make up the main part of the sawfish’s diet but it will also eat crustaceans and other invertebrate organisms that it stirs up from the sand. The sawfish’s mouth contains ten or more rows of tiny teeth that are rather blunt than sharp. Besides humans, sawfish have few predators. Young sawfish may be preyed apon by bullsharks.
All species of sawfish are tropical and are found living in shallow coastal waters of beaches or where rivers meet the ocean. Sawfish are tolerant of both fresh and salt water and have been captured in rivers miles away from the ocean. They prefer the soft sand or mud bottoms of these locations and are do not usually go into deep open water.
There are six species of sawfish. All of them can be found in tropical coastal waters and all possesss slight differences with their saw.
The small tooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) is the only North American species of sawfish that is still found today. Its present day range includes the Florida coast but its range use to include New York to the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, in the last 100 years, this sawfish has been captured as either bycatch or as a trophy, which has greatly reduced its numbers to the point that it is now an endangered species that is recognized by the Endangered Species Act. It can grow up to 18 feet long which includes the saw which accounts for 25% of its total length. The record size is 24.7 feet long. Its body coloring is a brown or bluish tone on top with a white underside. The saw has from 25 to 32 pairs of teeth along the edge. Each tooth is flat but sharp at the point. This species of sawfish is the most heavily studied and documented.
The large tooth sawfish (Pristis perotetti) is closely related and is similar in appearance to the small tooth sawfish. It can be found in waters along the coast of Central and South America and used to be found along the South East coast of the United States where it shared the waters with the small tooth sawfish. The body coloration is a gray to brown. Large tooth sawfish may grow up to 21 feet long and have weighed in at 1,000 to over 1,300 pounds. The large tooth sawfish has a saw with much larger and widely spaced teeth than the small tooth sawfish.
The knifetooth sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata) is found in the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. This species of sawfish is relatively unknown to science and little data has been collected as only a few species positively identified and confirmed as knifetooth sawfish have been observed. The coloring is said to be a medium to light gray and the only recorded length was from an 11 foot specimen captured in Australia.
The green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) is the largest species of sawfish and has been recorded with a 24 foot length. It inhabits the coastal waters of East Africa, India, South East Asia, and Northern Australia. The color of the green sawfish is, like its common name implies, an olive green to brown. This species can be distinguished from larger specimens of other species by its green coloring, much longer overall size, and the number of teeth along the sides of the saw. The saw of the green sawfish is the longest of all sawfish species measuring at 5.4 feet in length.
The freshwater sawfish (Pristis microdon) is a species of sawfish that has been found living far upland in numerous freshwater sources including rivers, lakes, and ponds. It also inhabits the coastal waters within its range of East Africa, India, South East Asia, and Northern Australia. This species can be distinguished from other sawfish by its comparably larger teeth (with the exception of the large tooth sawfish which does not share its range), and body coloring of a yellowish-gray. This species may attain a length of up to 20 feet long and has been featured on Animal Planet’s River Monsters.
The dwarf sawfish (Pristis clavata) is the smallest species of sawfish measuring at a maximum length of 10 feet long. It has been documented in the coastal waters of Northern Australia but may have also been found in waters near New Guinea, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Little is known about this species’ habits or reproduction.
All six sawfish species are considered critically threatened of becoming extinct worldwide. The small tooth sawfish is the first elasmobrach to ever be placed on the endangered species list of the ESA, followed by the large tooth sawfish in July of 2011. Their disappearance is due to a number of factors including habitat loss, low reproductivity (sawfish do not become sexually mature until they reach 10 years of age and then only produce 10-12 pups), overfishing (particularly in the small tooth sawfish’s case), and bycatch deaths (sawfish get tangled easily in nets due to their saw). Many conservation efforts are now in place to further protect and gather more information on these highly unusual and special fish.
