| Smalltooth sawfish | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Pristiformes |
| Family: | Pristidae |
| Genus: | Pristis |
| Species: | P. pectinata |
| Binomial name | |
| Pristis pectinata Latham, 1794 |
|
The smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), also known as the wide sawfish, is a sawfish of the family Pristidae, found in shallow tropical and subtropical waters in coastal parts of the Atlantic, including the Mediterranean. Reports from elsewhere are now believed to be misidentifications of other species of sawfish.[1] This critically endangered species reaches a length of up to 7.6 metres (25 ft).[2]
The smalltooth sawfish is ovoviviparous, meaning the mother holds the eggs inside of her until the young are ready to be born, usually in litters of 15 to 20 pups. It inhabits shallow coastal waters of tropical seas and estuaries where it are found over muddy and sandy bottoms. As its relatives, it also enters rivers.
Smalltooth sawfish are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation because of their propensity for entanglement in nets, their restricted habitat, and low rate of population growth. The species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List. The United States population was listed by the National Marine Fisheries Service as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2003. The species is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.