Largetooth sawfish
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| Pristis microdon Latham, 1794 |
The largetooth sawfish, Pristis microdon, is a sawfish of the family Pristidae, found in shallow tropical Indo-West Pacific oceans from East Africa to Papua New Guinea, north to the Philippines and Viet Nam, and south to Australia, between latitudes 11° N and 39° S. Its length is up to 6.5 m.
The largetooth sawfish is a heavily-bodied sawfish with a short but massive saw which is broad-based, strongly tapering and with 14 to 22 very large teeth on each side - the space between the last two saw-teeth on the sides are less than twice the space between the first two teeth. The pectoral fins are high and angular, the first dorsal fin being mostly in front of the pelvic fins, and the caudal fin has a pronounced lower lobe.
Coloration is greenish, grey or golden-brown above, cream below.
The largetooth sawfish inhabits sandy or muddy bottoms of shallow coastal waters, estuaries, river mouths and freshwater rivers and lakes. It is usually found in turbid channels of large rivers over soft mud bottoms, occurring in large rivers and estuaries, with adults usually being found in estuaries and young ascending into fresh water. Large adults can also be found in fresh water, but are rarely caught. It feeds on benthic animals and small schooling species. The saw is used for grubbing and attacking prey as well as for defense. The saws sell as tourist souvenirs. The flesh is marketed salted.
Reproduction is ovoviviparous.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- "Pristis microdon". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
