Pristis microdon Latham, 1794

Largetooth sawfish

Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Classification	Elasmobranchii \| Pristiformes \| Pristidae
Synonyms	... more
Common names	Freshwater sawfish, Poisson scie, Pez peine, ... more

You can sponsor this page

Upload your photos and videos
| All pictures | Google image | Stamps |

Image of Pristis microdon (Largetooth sawfish)

Picture by CSIRO

Add your observation in Fish Watcher

| Native range | PointMap |

AquaMaps Data sources: GBIF OBIS

Main reference

Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens. 1994. (Ref. 6871)
Other references | Biblio | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 700 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 58048); common length : 500 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2683); max. published weight: 600.0 kg (Ref. 3164); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 9859)

Environment

Demersal; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); freshwater; brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 10 m (Ref. 27000)

Climate / Range

Tropical; 24°C - 26°C (Ref. 2060); 22°N - 39°S, 20°E - 154°E

Indo-West Pacific: East Africa to New Guinea, north to the Philippines and Viet Nam, south to Australia. Also Atlantic and eastern Pacific if Pristis perotteti and Pristis zephyreus are synonymized with this species. The original description of Pristis microdon did not give a locality, but most authors have used the name Pristis microdon for the Indo-West Pacific sawfishes of this species group as contrasted from the Atlantic Pristis perotteti and the eastern Pacific Pristis zephyreus.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. A heavily-bodied sawfish with a short but massive saw which is broad-based, strongly tapering and with 14-22 very large teeth on each side; space between last 2 saw-teeth on sides less than 2 times space between first 2 teeth (Ref. 5578). Pectoral fins high and angular, 1st dorsal fin mostly in front of pelvic fins, and caudal fin with pronounced lower lobe (Ref. 5578). Greenish, grey or golden-brown above, cream below (Ref. 5578).

Inhabits sandy or muddy bottoms of shallow coastal waters, estuaries, river mouths, and freshwater rivers and lakes. Usually found in turbid channels of large rivers over soft mud bottoms (Ref. 2847, 44894). Adults usually found in estuaries and young ascend into fresh water. Large adults can also be found in fresh water, but are rarely caught (Ref. 12693). Feeds on benthic animals and small schooling species. Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449). The saw is used for grubbing and attacking prey as well as for defense. The saws sell as tourist souvenirs (Ref. 7248). Occasionally caught by demersal tangle net and trawl fisheries in the Arafura Sea; possibly extinct in parts of the Indo-Pacific; highly susceptible to gill nets. Utilized for its fins and meat (both of very high value), and skin and cartilage (Ref.58048).


IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 57073)	Threat to humans
Critically Endangered (CR) (A2abcd+3cd+4bcd)	Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)

Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes


More information
Countries FAO areas Ecosystems Occurrences Introductions Ecology Diet Food items Food consumption Ration	Common names Synonyms Metabolism Predators Ecotoxicology Reproduction Maturity Spawning Eggs Egg development	Age/Size Growth Length-weight Length-length Length-frequencies Morphometrics Morphology Larvae Larval dynamics Recruitment	Other references Biblio Aquaculture Aquaculture profile Strains Genetics Allele frequencies Heritability Diseases Processing	Collaborators Pictures Stamps Sounds Ciguatera Speed Swim. type Gill area Otoliths Brains Vision

Tools
Biogeographic modelling \| E-book \| Field guide \| Identification keys \| Length-frequency wizard \| Life-history tool \| Point map

Special reports
Check for Aquarium maintenance \| Check for Species Fact Sheets \| Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML
Summary page \| Point data \| Common names \| Photos

Internet sources

Estimation of some characteristics with mathematical models

Resilience (Ref. 69278)

Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tm=10; tmax=30; Fec=1)


Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)	Price category (Ref. 80766)
Very high vulnerability (87 of 100)	Medium

Entered by Froese, Rainer

Modified by Wiethüchter, Anita

Back to Search

Fish Forum

Comments & Corrections

Sign our Guest Book

FishBase mirror site : US - CGNET

Page last modified by : elaxamana, 15 July 2009

Custom Search