Knifetooth sawfish  (Anoxypristis cuspidata)

Description

The knifetooth sawfish is an unusual type of ray, with a shark-like body and a distinctive, elongated snout, or rostrum, known as a saw. In this species, the saw is particularly narrow and bears 16 to 29 pairs of flattened, dagger-shaped ‘teeth’, which are in fact highly modified and enlarged scales. The body is grey above, fading to paler grey below, with pale fins, and white teeth on the saw (2) (4) (5). Adults are much paler than juveniles, and may have a slight greenish tinge (2). The knifetooth sawfish can be distinguished from other sawfish species by the lack of teeth along the base of the saw, and by the distinct lower lobe of the caudal fin (2) (6) (7). Like all sawfish, it differs from the similar-looking sawsharks by having a more flattened body, gill slits beneath rather than on the sides of the head, and no fleshy ‘barbels’ on the sides of the saw (2) (5) (7). Although the knifetooth sawfish is reported to reach an impressive six metres or more in length, these records are unconfirmed (2) (4) (5) (6).

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