Sawfish are marine animals recognized by their distinctive long, flattened snout, known as a rostrum or “saw,” which is lined with sharp teeth. These creatures are a type of ray, not sharks, despite their shark-like body shape. Their gills and mouths are located on the underside of their bodies, a characteristic shared with other rays. Sawfish are primarily found in tropical and subtropical waters, inhabiting both marine and estuarine environments.
Current Global Distribution
All five species of sawfish are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Their populations have significantly declined, and they are now found in only a few strongholds globally. Northern Australia is a significant remaining area, hosting four of the five sawfish species: the freshwater, narrow, dwarf, and green sawfish. Australia’s northern waters, including Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, represent one of the last remaining places with sawfish populations.
In the Atlantic region, Florida, USA, serves as a stronghold for smalltooth sawfish, with most individuals found off its coast, particularly in southwest Florida from Charlotte Harbor to the Florida Keys. The largetooth sawfish has a large population in the Amazon estuary in Brazil, with smaller, fragmented populations in Central America and West Africa. Sawfish sightings are now rare and often limited to these isolated pockets.
Preferred Habitats
Sawfish inhabit a variety of environments, primarily favoring shallow waters. They are commonly found in coastal marine and brackish estuarine areas. Many species, particularly the largetooth sawfish, utilize freshwater rivers and lakes during different life stages. Juvenile sawfish prefer shallow, warm waters, sometimes less than one meter deep.
These shallow areas have soft bottoms, such as mud or sand, and are located near mangroves or seagrass beds. Mangrove-fringed estuaries are important as nursery grounds for young sawfish, offering protection from predators like sharks and crocodiles. As sawfish mature, they may move into deeper coastal waters, though adults are commonly found in depths less than 10 meters.
Historical Range Contraction
Sawfish were once widely distributed across tropical and subtropical waters globally, their range encompassing vast areas of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. In the East Atlantic, they ranged from Morocco to South Africa, and in the West Atlantic, from New York to Uruguay, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. They were widespread in the western and central Indo-Pacific, extending from South Africa to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and through Southeast Asia to Korea, southern Japan, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.
The largetooth sawfish had the largest historical range of all sawfish species, covering nearly 7.2 million square kilometers globally. Sawfish have disappeared from much of this historical distribution. They are now considered locally extinct or rare in many regions, including most of the Atlantic coast of Africa, South Africa, and much of the Caribbean. This contraction in their geographical presence is largely a consequence of human activities.