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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about sawfish. Subscribe to the channel to stay up today on new animal fact episodes! Largetooth sawfish were a request by The Batman, and we’d like to take this opportunity to discuss all the sawfish species.

Sawfish belong to the family Pristidae. There are five species of sawfish and all of them are endangered or critically endangered. Sawfish live in tropical and subtropical waters throughout the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. They are rarely found in open water as they prefer more shallow environments. In fact, sawfish will swim into brackish water rivers and streams and there are even some living in Lake Nicaragua. Sawfish were once more widespread than they are now, and sawfish population declines can be attributed to fishing as well as habitat loss. Efforts are being made to help sawfish populations stabilize, and they even have their own day dedicated to them to help raise awareness of their plight. Mark your calendar for October 17th so you can celebrate international sawfish day this year!

Sawfish have been around for more than 50 million years. They sort of look like sharks with really long noses and are sometimes even called carpenter sharks, but they’re actually more closely related to rays. Notice how their gills are on their underside like a ray as opposed to the gills found on the sides of sharks? There are shark species, called sawsharks, that get confused with sawfishes, but the gills are an easy indicator of their differences. The long snout of a sawfish is called a rostrum and the “teeth-like” pieces sticking out aren’t teeth at all but are, instead, modified scales. Sawfish are born with a predetermined amount of these pokey scales, usually between 20 and 30 depending on the species, and they won’t grow back if lost. A sawfish’s actual teeth are located in their mouth, also found on the underside of their body. They use their strong teeth to crush food such as crustaceans and fish which they find using electroreceptors, called ampuli of Lorenzi, found along their rostrum. They’ve also been observed using their long snout to whack schools of fish. Sawfish are so adept at using their rostrum that they’re able to split fish in half. Yikes! Really, though, sawfish are considered not harmful to humans, though, I know if I came across one while snorkeling I’d probably have a heart attack, not because of their somewhat freaky appearance, though, but because they can get huge. Sawfish can grow to be more than 20 feet (6.1m) long - that’s a little longer than the height of your average giraffe. I’m used to a ten pound house cat, not a 700 pound (318kg) fish. Though, to be fair, I would be in awe to see one in the wild.

Generally speaking, sawfish don’t have predators, though when they’re young they’re more likely to fall victim to sharks and crocodiles. Sawfish are born in nursing grounds that are made up of shallow coastline covered in mangroves. Mother sawfish give birth to live young after an approximate five month gestation period and only have about eight babies at a time. Typically, vertebrates require fertilization for reproduction, but there have been reports of sawfish reproducing without fertilization. If this is the case, they would be some of the only wild vertebrates documented to reproduce via parthenogenesis, which is pretty cool in my book. It’s thought to take nearly 10 years for sawfish to reach sexual maturity, and it’s possible they only mate every other year. These long reproduction intervals do not make raising sawfish populations an easy task. They likely can live 25 or more years as long as they’re able to steer clear of any fishing nets!

Sawfish are grey to brown in color with some looking slightly olive green. In some cultures, they’re considered to be symbols of strength and protectors of mankind. Now it’s up to us to help protect them!

For more facts on sawfish, check out the links in the description. Tell us some ways you live a more ecologically friendly lifestyle in the comments. Give a thumbs up if you enjoyed this episode, and we’ll see you next time on Animal Fact Files.