FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
55 
Order BATOIDEI. The skates and rays 
Family IX. — PRISTID/E. The sawfishes 
Body elongate, depressed; snout produced into a long, thin, flat process, armed laterally with 
a series of large, strong teeth; teeth in the jaws numerous, small, in pavement; gill slits moderate, 
inferior; spiracles wide, placed behind the eye; eyes without nictitating membrane; dorsal fins 2, 
large, the first nearly opposite ventrals; caudal fin well developed, bent upward; a fold along each 
side of tail; pectoral fins moderate, their front margins not extending to the head. A single genus 
is known. Viviparous. 
11. Genus PRISTIS Linck. Sawfishes 
The characters of the genus are included in the family description. A single species is known 
from the waters of the Atlantic coast of the United States. The sawfishes are bottom-dwelling 
animals. The large, sawlike rostrum probably is not used extensively as an offensive weapon, 
but it forms an effective defensive weapon, as the fish can strike from side to side with great force. 
12. Pristis pectinatus Latham. Sawfish. 
Pristis peclinatus Latham, Trans., Linn. Soc., London, II, 1794, p. 278, PI. XXVI, fig. 2; “in the ocean.” Jordan and Ever- 
mann, 1896-1900, p. 60, PI. VIII, fig. 27; Garman, 1913, p. 262. 
Pristis antiquorum Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 190; ed. II, p. 160. 
Body depressed, its depth between the dorsals about equal to its width at the same point; 
caudal peduncle depressed, provided with a lateral keel on each side; rostrum (or “saw”) of moderate 
width, tapering, provided with 24 to 32 strong teeth on each edge, varying with age and among 
individuals; teeth on the jaws in pavement, in many rows; origin of first dorsal opposite or a little 
posterior to the origin of the ventrals; second dorsal scarcely smaller than the first; the lower lobe 
of caudal not produced; pectoral fins broad, the outer angles blunt, posterior margins nearly 
straight. 
Color, dark gray or brownish above, pale yellow or white below. 
The sawfish was not seen during the present investigation, but it was reliably reported by 
pound-net fishermen operating in the lower parts of Chesapeake Bay. The foregoing description 
was compiled from published accounts. 
The prolongation of the snout, with its armature of teeth, at once identifies the sawfish from 
all other Atlantic fishes. Six species are known to exist. The only other species (P. microdon ) 
found on this side of the Atlantic, chiefly in the Tropics, has 17 to 23 teeth along its snout, whereas 
the present species has 24 to 32 teeth. The number of teeth on each side of the snout may or may 
not be the same. A 14-foot fish taken by us at Key West had 28 teeth on the left and 27 teeth on 
the right side. Three 30-inch fish taken by us at Marco, Fla., had the following counts of rostral 
teeth: 24-24, 24—25, 25-25. The last-mentioned young fish were taken in the same locality on the 
same day. They were found swimming slowly along, parallel to and within 3 or 4 feet of the shore. 
Each was thrown ashore with a dip net. As they were exactly the same length (30 inches), it is 
quite certain that they were of the same age, and it is likely that they were recently born. This 
species gives birth to live young, as many as 20 being produced at one time. It is said to deliver its 
young in the summer, but as the three newly born fish mentioned above were found early in January, 
it is probable that young are born over an extended period, the period of reproduction varying in 
different sections with the climate. 
The sawfish is only an occasional visitor in the lower Chesapeake. 
Pound-net fishermen at Ocean View and Lynnhaven Roads report that it is rarely taken — 
sometimes one or two fish a year and sometimes none. The capture of a sawfish is long remem- 
bered by the fishermen, for it is very destructive of nets, from which it is removed with great difficulty . 
This sawfish is said to attain a length of 20 feet. Examples 10 to 16 feet in length are not 
rare. 
Habitat . — Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the east coast of the United States as far north 
as New Jersey. 
