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Sawfish
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
see ray.
More on Sawfish
Ray - extremely flat-bodied cartilaginous marine fish, related to the shark.
Sawfishes can be confused with saw sharks (order Pristiophoriformes), but there are some recognizable differences between them.
Sawfish are commonly found in tropical seas and in estuary mouths. The smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) is found in tropical Atlantic waters while other species inhabit the Indo-Pacific region.
Rays, skates and sawfish make up the Rajiformes, an order of cartilaginous fish containing 12 families. Fish in this group generally have flat bodies and a large pectoral fin that forms a disc.
Batoids: Sawfishes, Guitarfishes, Electric Rays, Skates, and Sting Rays
J. D. McEachran, K. A. Dunn, T. Miyake (1996). "Interrelationships of the batoid fishes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea)". In Interrelationships of Fishes, Academic Press.
FWC Facts:
Sawfish swim like sharks but are more closely related to rays. Their gill slits are on the bottom of their bodies, like stingrays.
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Family: Pristidae, Sawfishes view all from this family
Description To 18' (5.5 m). Moderately depressed and shark-shaped, tail sector large and not distinct from body; color nearly uniform mousy-gray to blackish above, paler on sides, whitish below.
Anoxypristis cuspidata, Knifetooth Sawfish
Antennarius hispidus, Shaggy Angler
Antennarius indicus, Indian Frogfish
Antennarius tuberosus, Tuberculated Frogfish
Antennarius dorehensis, New Guinean Frogfish
Antennarius commerson, Commerson's Frogfish ...
There are some fantastic creatures in this group-the freshwater sawfish, bowmouth guitarfish, Atlantic guitarfish, thornback, lesser electric ray, spotted electric ray, Atlantic torpedo, rough skate, round stingray.
Leichhardt's sawfish (Pristis microdon)
Caribbean flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Common loon (Gavia immer)
Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Madagascar sacred ibis (Threskiornis bernieri)
Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) ...
Order Rajiiformes (456 species, marine and freshwater): sawfishes, electric rays, guitarfishes, skates, deepwater stingray, South African stingray, stingrays, round stingrays, butterfly rays, eagle rays, manta rays ...
Pristis pristis (Common sawfish)
[edit] Squaliformes
Etmopterus spinax (Velvet belly lantern shark)
Oxynotus centrina (Angular roughshark)
Squalus acanthias (Spiny dogfish) ...
Coastal Fishes State Status Federal Status (Listed)
Smalltooth Sawfish
Pristis pectinata
Endangered ...
Fish on one or both lists include the paddlefish (Threatened on the state list), the Devil's River minnow (Threatened, both lists), the Comanche Springs pupfish (Endangered, both lists), and the smalltooth sawfish (Endangered, both lists).
Leopard Shark (Trakis semisciata), Manta Ray, Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum), Reef Whitetip Shark (Triaenodon obesus), Round Stingray (Urolophus halleri), Sandbar Shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus), Sand Tiger Shark (Carcharius taurus), Sawfish ...
About a hundred Mexican prisoners, Texian soldiers, and officers, were there; but instead of our prize turning out a shark, it proved to be a sawfish, measuring rather more than twelve feet in length. From its body we took out alive ten young ones.
 See also: Shark, Skate, Guitarfish, Eagle, Shell
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