Knifetooth sawfish Temporal range: 56–0 Ma Eocene to Present[1] |
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Order: | Pristiformes |
Family: | Pristidae |
Genus: | Anoxypristis E. I. White and Moy-Thomas, 1941 |
Species: | A. cuspidata |
Binomial name | |
Anoxypristis cuspidata (Latham, 1794) |
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Synonyms | |
Pristis cuspidatus |
The knifetooth sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata), also known as the pointed sawfish or narrow sawfish, is a sawfish of the family Pristidae, found in the shallow coastal waters and estuaries of the Indo-West Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to southern Japan, Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. It is the only member of the genus Anoxypristis, but has been included in Pristis. Compared to that genus, Anoxypristis has a narrower rostral saw with numerous teeth on the distal part and no teeth of the quarter nearest the head. This critically endangered species reaches a length of up to 4.7 metres (15 ft).