Smalltooth Sawfish

Pristis pectinata

Diet

A generalist piscivore; fish DNA made up 71% of identified animal DNA in one fecal-DNA study, with mollusks and crustaceans forming a minority.

Range

Native to tropical and subtropical Atlantic waters, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico; its historical range extended from the United States to Uruguay in the west and Senegal to Angola in the east. It has disappeared from much of that range.

Habitat

Mostly coastal marine and estuarine brackish waters, usually in shallow water over soft bottoms; also found around mangroves, seagrass, rocky bottoms and coral reefs.

Activity

Mostly bottom-dwelling; its rostrum can sense activity above the seafloor, including in low-visibility water.

Reproduction

Ovoviviparous, with internal fertilization. Litters of up to 20 pups have been reported, and the reproductive cycle is believed to occur every two years; parthenogenesis has also been observed in the wild.

Conservation

Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List, 2022)

Sensing the world

The saw is more than a weapon: thousands of sensory organs in its rostrum detect the electric fields produced by nearby organisms. Their dense arrangement on the upper side helps the fish sense the three-dimensional space above the seafloor, even in murky water.

Finding food

When attacking a school of fish, a smalltooth sawfish can sweep its saw rapidly from side to side. The teeth may stab, stun or kill several small fish in one pass.

Finding food

It can use the saw in two different ways when feeding: pinning food against the bottom or striking prey from the side as it falls through the water.

Life cycles

Wild reproduction without a male has been documented: about 3 percent of sawfish living in one Florida estuary were reported to result from parthenogenesis, development from an unfertilized egg.

Defenses

Although its rostrum is mainly used for feeding, observations indicate that a threatened sawfish may retaliate against a shark or another marine animal with three swift blows.

Facts

• The saw is more than a weapon: thousands of sensory organs in its rostrum detect the electric fields produced by nearby organisms. Their dense arrangement on the upper side helps the fish sense the three-dimensional space above the seafloor, even in murky water.
• When attacking a school of fish, a smalltooth sawfish can sweep its saw rapidly from side to side. The teeth may stab, stun or kill several small fish in one pass.
• It can use the saw in two different ways when feeding: pinning food against the bottom or striking prey from the side as it falls through the water.
• Wild reproduction without a male has been documented: about 3 percent of sawfish living in one Florida estuary were reported to result from parthenogenesis, development from an unfertilized egg.
• Although its rostrum is mainly used for feeding, observations indicate that a threatened sawfish may retaliate against a shark or another marine animal with three swift blows.

Research sources

• Smalltooth sawfish