🐟 AquaticCare difficulty: AdvancedLegal complexity: High — restricted in many states
Smalltooth sawfish
Pristis pectinata
The smalltooth sawfish is a critically endangered ray with a distinctive toothed, saw-like snout. Entanglement in fishing gear and loss of coastal mangrove nurseries have driven dramatic declines across most of its former range.
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Quick facts
| Size | Large ray-like fish to ~5.5 m with a long toothed rostrum. |
| Lifespan | 30–50 years |
| Native region | Coastal Atlantic, notably the south-eastern United States |
| Climate | 🌴 Tropical |
| Water type | 🌊 Marine |
| Genus | Pristis |
Habitat & enclosure
Inhabits shallow coastal waters, estuaries, and mangrove-lined shorelines, with juveniles relying on mangrove and seagrass nurseries. Its toothed rostrum is easily entangled in nets, and coastal development has destroyed key nursery habitat. It is strictly protected in US waters; this profile is conservation/education only.
Diet
A carnivore that uses its electroreceptive, blade-like rostrum to detect and stun fish and to probe the bottom for invertebrates. Healthy estuaries and prey-rich shallows are essential to its recovery.
Behavior & temperament
Females give birth to live young in estuarine nurseries, and the species is slow to mature, so populations recover slowly. The saw-like rostrum, while iconic, makes it especially prone to accidental capture, the central threat to its survival.
Reviewed and signed off by: KinStation Editorial — conservation profile (pending DVM/biologist review)