Selachiajis Extraordinary 



283 



A Sawfish (Pristis pectinatus) in a retaining pen at the Lerner Marine Laboratory in 

 Bimini strikes a floating fish with its "saw" and impales it. Note the wake of the "saw," 

 which indicates the precise arc of the Sawfish's strike. (Photo by F. G. Wood.) 



Courtesy, COPEIA 



swam to the bottom, scraped the food off its "tooth" by rubbing it along 

 the bottom and swiftly swam over it to devour it. A Sawfish's mouth 

 is located on its bottom side, aft of the "saw." 



But even a Sawfish can learn the ways of an arrogant mendicant. 

 Breder reported: 



Within three weeks . . . the Sawfish had become more accommodated to 

 life in captivity and changed its behavior considerably. When the time arrived 

 for the feeder to appear, the fish would swim slowlv about the surface, often in 

 a vertical direction with about one-half of its "saw" protruding through the 

 surface. This would be wigwagged back and forth in a manner that made 

 various of the non-biological observers suppose it was beckoning to its keeper. 

 When a fish was tossed to it, more often than not, it would lazily pass its saw 

 over and about the fish with no effort at impalement, suggesting that it was 

 merely investigating the offered food. Following this it would often simply 

 swim over the dead fish and engulf it at the surface. Evidently in the intervening 

 period it had learned that impalement was unnecessary and there was no danger 

 of the fish swimming away. An hour's delay in feeding was all that was neces- 

 sary to revive its original energetic attacks on food objects. 



In the more demanding realm of the open sea, where fish have to 

 work for their food, the Sawfish sometimes rises up amid schools of fish. 



