The Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata) has a snout that is extended as a long, flattened blade (around a quarter of the total length of the fish) with 24 or more teeth along each side. The dorsal fin originates directly over the pelvic fin insertion. The caudal (tail) fin is large and shark-like. Smalltooth Sawfish may reach 5.5 m in length. They are found in estuaries, the lower parts of large rivers, and shallow coastal waters. Historically, Smalltooth Sawfish occurred from Chesapeake Bay (rarely as far north as New York), Bermuda, and the northern Gulf of Mexico south to Brazil or northern Argentina, as well as in the eastern Atlantic. However, during the past fifty to a hundred years, they appear to have been extirpated from much of their former range and are now formally listed as endangered. (Boschung et al. 1983; Robins and Ray 1986; Poulakis et al. 2011)

In the Atlantic waters off the United States, the Smalltooth Sawfish has declined by at least 95% relative to its abundance in the early 1900s; by the 1980s, the core distribution had contracted to southwestern Florida. At the dawn of the 20th century, this species was extremely common in waters around the southeastern United States. However, in the early 1900s, nearshore net fisheries developed in this region that resulted in large sawfish losses due to accidental bycatch as sawfishes became easily entangled in nets intended for other species. In addition, loss of wetlands critical to their reproduction accelerated with the rapid development of this region. By the 1990s, the Florida populations appeared to have stabilized (at an extremely reduced level) and today the main threats to the recovery of the species appear to be habitat loss, marine pollution, and injuries inflicted directly by humans. Factors making this species more vulnerable to population reductions include their small litter size, slow growth, and late maturity (based on the limited data available, generation time has been estimated to be around 27 years and lifespan around 30 to 60 years). However, recent genetic analyses by Chapman et al. (2011) suggest that despite the dramatic population decline, a high level of genetic diversity has been retained., i.e., no genetic bottleneck has been detected despite the demographc bottleneck. (Seitz and Poulakis 2006; Chapman et al. 2011 and references therein)

Immature Smalltooth Sawfish are highly dependent on shallow inshore habitats (less than 2 m deep), especially around the mouths of rivers and in estuaries. Very young individuals occur on shallow sand and mud banks, often not leaving water less than 30 cm deep for extended periods (adults are known to occur in waters up to 100 m deep). Males mature at around 270 cm total length (TL), and females at around 360 cm TL. Litter size is thought to be 15 to 20, although data are limited. The young are born at 60 to 80 cm TL. (Simpfendorfer 2005)

Smalltooth Sawfish are not aggressive and pose no danger to humans except when they are caught and handled. The saw can be used to obtain food by slashing it from side to side among schooling fish, stunning or killing them, then ingesting them whole. Juveniles also consume shrimp and crabs. The saws have sometimes been dried and sold as souvenirs. (Boschung et al. 1983; Robins and Ray 1986; Simpfendorfer 2005)

For more information about the biology and conservation of Smalltooth Sawfishes, visit the NMFS-NOAA, IUCN, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service pages devoted to this species.

Pristis pectinata enjoys a suite of names in languages as disparate as Sindhi, Wolof, Mandarin, Swedish and Somali (Read more: Common Names). Though it was once a common species in tropical waters around the globe, its habitat is now reduced by 90 percent.

The species is part of a group of cartilaginous fishes known as elasmobranchs, which includes sharks, skates and rays (NOAA n.d.). With its elongated body, dorsal fins and flat underbelly, the smalltooth sawfish looks like a shark when seen from above. From below, it resembles a ray with its ventral mouth, gills and flattened pectoral fins(Hill 2006). When they are born, juveniles measure about two feet (around 60 cm) in body length. By the time they reach maturity at about 10 years, they can grow to 18 ft (5.5 m) on average, and some individuals have even been found at 25 ft (7 m) in length (Simpfendorfer 2005). Their defining feature, a rostrum that resembles a saw blade, bears 24-32 teeth and constitutes a quarter of the body length.

The elongated rostrum is thought to serve several functions. There are no known directed studies of P. pectinata feeding habits, but they are thought to prey on benthic crustaceans and small schooling fish such as mullets and clupeids(Strickland 2009). When feeding, P. pectinata slash sideways through schools of fish, impaling fish on the teeth along the edges of the blade-like rostrum. The fish are then scraped off and eaten by rubbing the rostrum on a substrate and then gulping the fish whole It is thought the rostrum is also used to stir up sediments and flick out crustaceans (Hill 2006) (Strickland 2009).

The rostrum has also gotten the species in trouble. In the early 20th century, the blade-like rostra became trophies for recreational fishermen. Sawfish also got their rostra entangled in lines and nets, becoming prey to commercial fisheries (Hill 2006). In 2000 the smalltooth sawfish was listed as Critically Endangered under the IUCN (Adams, et al. 2006), and Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2003 (Strickland 2009). It is thought to be completely extinct from the Mediterranean Sea and Northeast Atlantic (Adams, et al. 2006).

There are few records of sawfish population distribution in U.S. waters, but museum specimens and anecdotal evidence from fishermen indicate it was once widespread in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico from Texas all the way to New York. Today, the range of the smalltooth sawfish has shrunk to cover only the Everglades region in the southern tip of Florida (NOAA n.d.)(Strickland 2009) (Read more: Trends and Threats).

The Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata) has a snout that is extended as a long, flattened blade (around a quarter of the total length of the fish) with 24 or more teeth along each side.. The dorsal fin originates directly over the pelvic fin insertion. The caudal (tail) fin is large and shark-like. Smalltooth Sawfish may reach 5.5 m in length. They are found in estuaries, the lower parts of large rivers, and shallow coastal waters. Historically, Smalltooth Sawfish occurred from Chesapeake Bay (rarely as far north as New York), Bermuda, and the northern Gulf of Mexico south to Brazil or northern Argentina, as well as in the eastern Atlantic. However, during the past fifty to a hundred years, they appear to have been extirpated from much of their former range and are now formally listed as endangered. (Boschung et al. 1983; Robins and Ray 1986; Poulakis et al. 2011)

In the Atlantic waters off the United States, the Smalltooth Sawfish has declined by at least 95% relative to its abundance in the early 1900s; by the 1980s, the core distribution had contracted to southwestern Florida. At the dawn of the 20th century, this species was extremely common in waters around the southeastern United States. However, in the early 1900s, nearshore net fisheries developed in this region that resulted in large sawfish losses due to accidental bycatch as sawfishes became easily entangled in nets intended for other species. In addition, loss of wetlands critical to their reproduction accelerated with the rapid development of this region. By the 1990s, the Florida populations appeared to have stabilized (at an extremely reduced level) and today the main threats to the recovery of the species appear to be habitat loss, marine pollution, and injuries inflicted directly by humans. Factors making this species more vulnerable to population reductions include their small litter size, slow growth, and late maturity (based on the limited data available, generation time has been estimated to be around 27 years and lifespan around 30 to 60 years). However, recent genetic analyses by Chapman et al. (2011) suggest that despite the dramatic population decline, a high level of genetic diversity has been retained., i.e., no genetic bottleneck has been detected despite the demographc bottleneck. (Seitz and Poulakis 2006; Chapman et al. 2011 and references therein)

Immature Smalltooth Sawfish are highly dependent on shallow inshore habitats (

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (Unknown) Historical range reportedly included marine habitats in parts of the eastern Pacific Ocean, western and eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Indo-Pacific, and Red Sea, and freshwater habitats in North, Central, and South America, Africa, and India (NMFS 2000). However, reports of this species from outside the Atlantic may be based on misidentifications of other pristids (NMFS 2001, 2003). Historical distribution in the western Atlantic Ocean extended from North Carolina (rarely New York), Bermuda, and the northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil (Robins and Ray 1986); probably not a permanent resident north of Florida (NMFS 2000); prior to around 1960, commonly occurred as far north as the Gulf of Mexico and North Carolina (NMFS 2003). Current distribution is centered on Everglades National Park, including Florida Bay (NMFS 2001, 2003). The depleted U.S. population may be the largest population in the western Atlantic (NMFS 2001). In fact, a NMFS review team was unable to find any recent verifiable records of populations outside of the United States (NMFS 2001, 2003).

• Freshwater
• Marine

Habitat Type: Marine

Comments: Shallow coastal, estuarine, and fresh waters; often in brackish water near river mouths and large embayments, in deeper holes on bottoms of mud or muddy sand (NMFS 2000). Mature individuals regularly occur in waters deeper than 50 m (Simpfendorfer 2002).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Along the U.S. Atlantic coast, adults may migrate northward with warming temperatures in spring and southward with cooling temperatures in fall (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953).

Slow growing, late maturing, low fecundity.

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: G2 - Imperiled

Reasons: Widespread in the Atlantic Ocean, distribution elsewhere is uncertain; historically ranged in the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina (rarely New York), Bermuda, and the northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil; now rare in the U.S., though this population appears to be the largest in the western Atlantic; vulnerable to overexploitation due to high propensity for entanglement in net gear, restricted habitat, and low intrinsic rate of increase; available evidence indicates a large decline in North America, likely due mainly to incidental commercial catch but habitat degradation probably also is involved; current range-wide status is poorly documented, hence the rank of G1G3 (species definitely warrants conservation concern, and perhaps is critically imperiled rangewide).

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Highly vulnerable

Comments: Based on the low intrinsic rate of increase, resulting from their slow growth, late maturation, and low
fecundity, population recovery potential for the species is limited.

Global Short Term Trend: Decline of 50-70%

Comments: Anecdotal evidence, negative scientific survey data, and catch records indicate a dramatic decline in recent decades in North America (NMFS 2000, 2001, 2003). Population in Everglades National Park may have been stable in the 1990s (Simpfendorfer 2002).

Global Long Term Trend: Decline of >90%

Comments: Regarded as common in inshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico and western North Atlantic in the late 1800s and early 1900s (see Simpfendorfer 2002). Wholly or nearly extirpated from large areas of the former range in the North Atlantic (Mediterranean, U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico) and the southwestern Atlantic; status elsewhere is uncertain but likely similarly reduced (NMFS 2001). Abundance in the United States likely is less than 5% of historical level (Simpfendorfer 2002).

Degree of Threat: A : Very threatened throughout its range communities directly exploited or their composition and structure irreversibly threatened by man-made forces, including exotic species

Comments: Commercial bycatch played the primary role in the decline of this DPS. Quantitative data are limited but indicate that smalltooth sawfish have been taken by commercial fishermen and that this species has experienced severe declines in its abundance (NMFS 2003). Recreational harvest also may have had a significant impact (Simpfendorfer 2002) but is not now a significant threat (NMFS 2003).

Loss and degradation of habitat is judged to have impacted the distribution and abundance of smalltooth sawfish. The
continued urbanization of the southeastern coastal states has resulted in substantial loss of coastal habitat through such activities as agricultural and urban development, commercial activities, dredge and fill operations, boating, erosion, and diversions of freshwater run-off. Animal wastes and fertilizers from agricultural runoff contribute large amounts of non-point source nutrient loading and introduce a wide range of toxic chemicals into habitats important to smalltooth
sawfish. The rate of urban development in the southeast coastal zone is more than four times the national average,
destroying or degrading significant amounts of coastal and estuarine habitat. Commercial activities in the southeast eliminate or degrade substantial amounts of marine and estuarine fish habitat, although the exact amount is unknown. An analysis of 18 major southeastern estuaries recorded over 703 miles (1,131 km) of navigation channels and 9,844 miles (15,842 km) of shoreline modifications. Profound impacts to hydrological regimes have been produced in South Florida throughthe construction of a 1,400-mile (2,253- km) network of canals, levees, locks, and other water control structures that modulate freshwater flow from Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, and other coastal areas. Potential detrimental impacts from the activities listed above on habitat of the U.S. DPS of smalltooth sawfish include: (1) loss of wetlands, (2) eutrophication, (3) point and non-point sources of pollution, (4) increased sedimentation and turbidity, and (5) hydrologic modifications. Smalltooth sawfish may be especially vulnerable to coastal habitat degradation due to their affinity for shallow, estuarine systems. The cumulative impacts from habitat degradation discussed above may
reduce habitat quality and limit habitat quantity available to the species. Given current low levels of abundance, and its
current retracted range, efforts need to be undertaken to better understand, avoid, minimize and mitigate these factors. [from NMFS 2003]

The scope, severity, and immediacy values refer to overexploitation (commercial bycatch) of the U.S. distinct population segment.

Management Requirements: Corridors of suitable habitat needed to be provided between exisiting populations and areas where reestablishment of populations might be possible; mortality in commercial fisheries should be reduced (Simpfendorfer 2002).

Management Research Needs: Information is needed on current abundance and distribution, trends, life history, essential habitat and habitat use (especially of altered habitats), movements, ecological role, and sources of fisheries mortality (Simpfendorfer 2002).

Comments: Based on international differences in control of exploitation and regulatory mechanisms, the U.S. population meets the discreteness requirements for a "species" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (NMFS 2001). The U.S. population also qualifies for consideration under the U.S. ESA because it is the northernmost population in the western Hemisphere and is not known to be in contact with other populations.