English

Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata)

Wikispecies

Noun

sawfish ‎(plural sawfishes)

1. Any ray (marine fish with a flat body and wing-like fins) of the family Pristidae, having a snout that resembles a saw.
   • 2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, Sawfish, entry in International Wildlife Encyclopedia, Volume 16: Rifleman - sea slug, page 2238,

     The sawlike snout that gives the sawfish its common name may represent up to one-third of its total body length. Despite its sharklike shape, the sawfish is more closely related to rays.

   • 2006, Glenn R. Parsons, Sharks, Skates, and Rays of the Gulf of Mexico: A Field Guide, page 123,

     Because of their sharklike appearance, people often refer to the sawfishes as sharks. However, they are actually related to the skates and rays because the gills are ventral, the eyes are on top of the head, and the pectoral fins are attached to the head.

   • 2015 June 6, Sawfish babies don’t need a dad, New Scientist, Issue 3024, page 17,

     Smalltooth sawfish native to rivers in south-west Florida appear to have given birth without sex – essentially cloning themselves.

     The sawfish (Pristis pectinata) – a type of ray that grows up to 7 metres long – is a critically endangered species. […] The sawfish is the first vertebrate shown to use parthenogenesis in the wild.

Derived terms

• dwarf sawfish (= Queensland sawfish)
• freshwater sawfish (= largetooth sawfish)
• green sawfish (= longcomb sawfish)
• knifetooth sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata)
• common sawfish (Pristis pristis)
• largetooth sawfish (Pristis microdon; disputed, may = P. pristis)
• large-tooth sawfish (Pristis perotteti; disputed, may = P. pristis)
• Leichhardt's sawfish (= largetooth sawfish)
• longcomb sawfish (Pristis zijsron)
• narrowsnout sawfish (= longcomb sawfish)
• Queensland sawfish (Pristis clavata)
• smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata)
• wide sawfish (= smalltooth sawfish)

Translations

See also

• Pristidae
• ray