Pristis pristis
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Pristiformes (Sawfishes)
Pristidae (Sawfishes)
Pristis
Pristis pristis (Largetooth Sawfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Moderately depressed anteriorly, with relatively large dorsal fins and a moderately developed caudal fin. Rostrum has 16 to 20 pairs of teeth and is about 20% of TL. Rostral teeth are narrow, triangular, and have groove running along the posterior margin. Upper jaw has about 80 to 90 tooth rows. Teeth are dome shaped, with obtuse, transverse cutting edge. Dorsal fins are of similar shape and size and have strongly concave posterior margins. First dorsal fin originates above rear corner of pectoral fin. Distance between dorsal fins is about equal to 1.6 times base of first dorsal fin. Distance between second dorsal fin and origin of caudal fin is about equal to base of second dorsal fin. Length of dorsal caudal lobe is about 16% to 18% of TL. Ventral lobe of caudal fin is well developed. Body is sparsely covered with dermal denticles.
Color is dark gray to golden brown dorsally and grayish white ventrally.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs from southern Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and to central Brazil.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas, limited to inshore habitats, including bays, estuaries, and freshwater with connections to the sea. Depth range not specified.
Biology
Food consists of benthic invertebrates and bony fishes. The saw is apparently used to dislodge benthic invertebrates and to disable fishes.
Maximum known size is 610 cm TL
Embryonic development is ovoviviparous. Young are 60 cm TL at birth.
A euryhaline species (Ref. 57533). Inhabits inshore coastal waters to moderate depth, also around off lying islands. Found also in estuaries, lagoons, river mouths, and even freshwater. Feeds on fishes and bottom-living animals. Ovoviviparous. Apparently can reproduce in freshwater (Ref. 57533). Freshwater populations occur to about 750 km up Amazon River; populations in Lake Nicaragua may be non-migratory (Ref. 7251). Reaches sexual maturity at 8-10 years and females have litters of approximately 1-13 pups. Young spend much of their early life in rivers up to 400 km from the sea (Ref. 114953).
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (CR), assessed 2022-02-02. Resilience: Low (tmax=44; Fec=1-20;).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Baughman 1943a
Baughman 1943b
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953a
Thorson 1976
Hoese and Moore 1977
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Stehmann, M. and D.L. Bürkel (1984) Pristidae. p. 153-155. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen, and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. vol. 1.
Stehmann, M. (1990) Pristidae. p. 51-54. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
de Carvalho, M.R. and J.D. McEachran (2003) Pristidae (Sawfishes). p. 17-21. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Séret, B. (2003) Pristidae. p. 78-80. In D. Paugy, C. Lévêque and G.G Teugels (eds.) The fresh and brackish water fishes of West Africa Volume 1. Collection Faune et Flore Tropicales 40. Institut de recherche de développement, Paris, France, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, France and Musée royal de l'Afrique Central, Tervuren, Belgium, 457p.
de Carvalho, M.R., B. Séret and R.C. Schelly (2007) Pristidae. p. 148-153. In M.L.J. Stiassny, G.G. Teugels and C.D. Hopkins (eds.) The fresh and brackish water fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa. Volume I. Collection Faune et Flore tropicales 42. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Paris, France, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, and Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium. 800 pp.
Last, P.R., W.T. White, M.R. de Carvalho, B. Séret, M.F.W. Stehmann and G.J.P. Naylor (2016) Rays of the world. CSIRO Publishing, Comstock Publishing Associates. i-ix + 1-790.
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