Largetooth Sawfish Rostrum Replica

$600.00

Largetooth Sawfishes, also known as Carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw.

Description

Largetooth Sawfish Rostrum Replica measures 51 x 10 x 2.8 inches. Largetooth Sawfish Rostrum Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast. Made in USA.

Sawfish, also known as Carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish with some species reaching lengths of about 23–25 ft.

They are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine and brackish estuarine waters, as well as freshwater rivers and lakes. All species are endangered.

Largetooth Sawfishes or Pristis Pristis are relatively slow breeders and the females give birth to live young. They feed on fish and invertebrates that are detected and captured with the use of their saw. They are generally harmless to humans, but can inflict serious injuries with the saw when captured and defending themselves.

Once common, Largetooth Sawfish have experienced a drastic decline in recent decades, and the only remaining strongholds are in Northern Australia and Florida, United States. The five species are rated as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN.

They are hunted for their fins (shark fin soup), use of parts as traditional medicine, their teeth and saw. They also face habitat loss. Sawfish have been listed by CITES since 2007, restricting international trade in them and their parts. They are protected in Australia, the United States and several other countries, meaning that sawfish caught by accident have to be released and violations can be punished with hefty fines.

Despite their appearance, Largetooth Sawfish are rays (superorder Batoidea). The Sawfish family has traditionally been considered the sole living member of the order Pristiformes, but recent authorities have generally subsumed it into Rhinopristiformes, an order that now includes the Sawfish family, as well as families containing guitarfish, wedgefish, and banjo rays.

Largetooth Sawfish are dull brownish, greyish, greenish or yellowish above, but the shade varies and dark individuals can be almost black. The underside is pale, and typically whitish.

The most distinctive feature of Largetooth Sawfish is their saw-like rostrum with a row of whitish teeth (rostral teeth) on either side of it. The rostrum is an extension of the chondrocranium (“skull”), made of cartilage and covered in skin. The rostrum length is typically about one-quarter to one-third of the total length of the fish, but it varies depending on species, and sometimes with age and sex.

The rostral teeth are not teeth in the traditional sense, but heavily modified dermal denticles. The rostral teeth grow in size throughout the life of the sawfish and a tooth is not replaced if it is lost. The number of teeth varies depending on the species and can range from 14 to 37 on each side of the rostrum.

It is common for a Sawfish to have slightly different tooth counts on each side of its rostrum. In some species, females on average have fewer teeth than males. Each tooth is peg-like in Pristis sawfish, and flattened and broadly triangular in Anoxypristis.

Largetooth Sawfish have a strong shark-like body, a flat underside and a flat head. Pristis sawfish have a rough sandpaper-like skin texture because of the covering of dermal denticles, but in Anoxypristis the skin is largely smooth. The mouth and nostrils are placed on the underside of the head.

Sawfish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters. Sawfish are primarily found in coastal marine and estuarine brackish waters, but they are euryhaline (can adapt to various salinities) and also found in freshwater. The Largetooth Sawfish, alternatively called the freshwater Sawfish, has the greatest affinity for freshwater.

Largetooth Sawfish are predators that feed on fish, crustaceans and molluscs. In 2012 it was shown that there are three primary techniques, informally called “saw in water”, “saw on substrate” and “pin”. If a prey item such as a fish is located in the open water, the Sawfish uses the first method, making a rapid swipe at the prey with its saw to incapacitate it. It is then brought to the seabed and eaten.

The “saw on substrate” is similar, but used on prey at the seabed. The saw is highly streamlined and when swiped it causes very little water movement.

The final method involves pinning the prey against the seabed with the underside of the saw, in a manner similar to that seen in guitarfish. The “pin” is also used to manipulate the position of the prey, allowing fish to be swallowed head-first and thus without engaging any possible fin spines. Prey choice is therefore limited by the size of the mouth.

Largetooth Sawfish Facts:
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous – Recent
Conservation status: Critically Endangered
Scientific classification:
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Batoidea
Order: Rhinopristiformes
Family: Pristidae
Genus: Pristis
Species: P. pristis
Binomial name: Pristis pristis

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Additional information

Weight 14 lbs
Dimensions 51 × 10 × 2.8 in