164 UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



This sheath is lost soon after birth. The distribution of sawfishes is world-wide 

 in warm, shallow seas. They enter brackish and fresh water. There is but one 

 family containing a single genus. 



SAWFISHES: Family Pristidae 



sawfish: Pristis fectinatus 



Size: Commonly to 16 feet. Reaches 20 feet or more. 



Weight: Commonly to 700 pounds. 



Distribution: Most common off Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico. To Cape 

 Hatteras in summer. Also south to Brazil. 



Identification: Grayish brown in color. 



Habits: These bottom-living rays are most plentiful in shallow bays and 

 estuaries, entering brackish and even fresh waters. The shape indicates a sluggish 

 but powerful animal. They rarely rise far from the bottom except to attack 

 schools of small fishes, such as mullet, on which they feed. The saw is used in 

 a sideways slashing manner to stun and impale these fishes, which are later 

 eaten at leisure. The saw also serves for poking about in the sand or mud 

 bottom for various items of food, mostly invertebrates. It is also a powerful 

 weapon of defense. A sawfish will not attack man unprovoked, but even small 

 ones should not be molested. Contrary to rumor, sawfishes do not attack whales, 

 but they may attack fairly large fishes, although rarely. The young are born 

 in summer and autumn after about a year's gestation. They are 2 feet long at 

 birth. Young sawfishes make excellent eating. 



Guitar Fishes: Superfamily Rhinobatoidea 



In this group, the transition from sharklike to raylike forms is complete. The 

 disc is either distinctly heart-shaped or round. The tail is always stout, and the 

 dorsal and tail fins are well developed. A uniform shagreen covers the body. 

 The mid-dorsal spines are somewhat enlarged. They are ovoviviparous and found 

 in all warm temperate and tropical seas. 



GUITARFISHES: Family Rhinobatidae 



SPOTTED guitarfish: Rhinobatos lentiginosns 



Size: Averages 2 feet. Reaches 3 feet. The females are larger than the males. 



Distribution: Most common off Florida. To Yucatan and Cape Hatteras. 



Identification: Covered with small Hght dots over a brown to ash-gray ground 

 color. The disc is wedge- or heart-shaped and the snout long. 



Habits: Guitarfishes swim close to the bottom using sculling motions of the 

 tail for propulsion and the pectorals for steering. They may lie half buried in 

 mud or sand and eat small molluscs and crustaceans. They are not often en- 

 countered in water deeper than 5 to 10 fathoms and are even encountered in 

 surf feeding on the gammarid shrimj-)s and sand crabs, Hippa, found there. 



Similar Species: Three West Coast species show a perfect graded transition 

 to skates in the shape of the disc, though the tail remains stout in all. 



The shovel-nosed guitarfish, Rliinobatos productus, is much like the East 



