The SMALLTOOTH SAWFISH gets its name from the Greek word PRISTIS, meaning “saw” and “small teeth that line the edges of its saw”, which are not as large as those of other members of the sawfish family.
The sawfish has a flattened shark-shaped body, brown to bluish-grey in colour, with a white underside, and wing-shaped pectoral fins. The “saw” is a quarter of the length of the body, and has between 25-32 pairs of small, sharp teeth which are longer and less broad towards the end of the “saw”. The mouth is on the underside and contains 10-12 rows of teeth in both jaws. The upper-side of the sawfish is covered in rough tooth-like scales and the under-side is coated in smooth tooth-like scales.
For many years, rarity of seeing a sawfish in the wild prevented scientists from collecting conclusive evidence about the use of their distinctive “rostrum”. This led…
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oshriradhekrishnabole 