Common sawfish

Common sawfish
Conservation status

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Pristiformes
Family: Pristidae
Genus: Pristis
Species: P. pristis
Binomial name
Pristis pristis
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The common sawfish, Pristis pristis, is a sawfish of the family Pristidae, found in tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic, Mediterranean, eastern Pacific and in northern Australia.[1] As suggested by its name, it was once plentiful, but has now declined drastically leading to it being considered a critically endangered species by the IUCN.[1] Its maximum length is 7.5 metres (25 ft), though 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) is more common.[2] Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

Its taxonomy in relations to P. microdon and P. perotteti has caused considerable confusion, but recent evidence strongly suggests the three are conspecific (in which case P. microdon and P. perotteti are synonyms of P. pristis), as morphological and genetic differences are lacking.[3] Three main clades based on NADH-2 genes were evident (Atlantic, Indo-West Pacific, and East Pacific), but these do not match the distributions claimed for P. pristis (circumtropical), P. microdon (Indo-West Pacific) and P. perotteti (Atlantic and East Pacific) respectively.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kyne, P.M., Carlson, J. & Smith, K. (2013). "Pristis pristis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Pristis pristis" in FishBase. May 2006 version.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Faria, V. V.; McDavitt, M. T.; Charvet, P.; Wiley, T. R.; Simpfendorfer, C. A.; Naylor, G. J. P. (2013). Species delineation and global population structure of Critically Endangered sawfishes (Pristidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 167: 136–164. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00872.x Retrieved 26 August 2013.

External links