''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and all species are considered critically endangered today.

Taxonomy

The scientific genus name ''Pristis'' is derived from the Greek word for saw.

Living species

Recent authorities recognize four species: * ''

Pristis clavata The dwarf sawfish or Queensland sawfish, ''Pristis clavata'', is a sawfish of the family Pristidae, found in tropical Australia. This endangered species is the smallest species in its family. Description The dwarf sawfish has a torpedo-shaped ...

'' Garman, 1906 — dwarf sawfish, Queensland sawfish * ''

Pristis pectinata ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and all ...

'' Latham, 1794 — smalltooth sawfish * ''

Pristis pristis ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and all ...

'' ( Linnaeus,

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

) — largetooth sawfish, common sawfish, freshwater sawfish, Leichhardt's sawfish * ''

Pristis zijsron The longcomb sawfish, narrowsnout sawfish or green sawfish (''Pristis zijsron'') is a species of sawfish in the family Pristidae, found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific. It has declined drastically and is now considered ...

Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").species groups. Most are considered a part of the smalltooth group, except ''P. pristis'' which is the sole member of the largetooth group.Faria, V. V.; McDavitt, M. T.; Charvet, P.; Wiley, T. R.; Simpfendorfer, C. A.; Naylor, G. J. P. (2013). ''Species delineation and global population structure of Critically Endangered sawfishes (Pristidae).'' Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 167: 136–164. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00872.x. Two additional species, ''P. microdon'' and ''P. perotteti'', have historically been recognized, but in 2013 it was shown that they are conspecific with ''P. pristis'' as morphological and genetic differences are lacking, leading recent authorities to treat them as

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

. '' Anoxypristis cuspidata'' was formerly included in ''Pristis'', but it has a number of distinctive features (for example, no teeth on the basal quarter of the saw) and recent authorities place it in its own genus.

Extinct species

According to

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

, extinct ''Pristis'' species only known from fossil remains include:Fossilworks
/ref> * ''

Pristis acutidens ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and all ...

'' Agassiz 1843 * ''

Pristis amblodon ''Pristis amblodon'' is an extinct species of sawfish within the family Pristidae. It currently has two occurrences originating from New Jersey in both the Eocene and Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period ...

'' Cope 1869 * ''

Pristis aquitanicus ''Pristis aquitanicus'' is an extinct species of sawfish in the family Pristidae. It lived in the Neogene period in France, Portugal, Florida, and India. It lived in marine, bays, and estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body ...

'' Delfortrie 1871 * ''

Pristis atlanticus ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and ...

'' Zbyszewski 1947 * ''

Pristis bisulcatus ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and all ...

'' Agassiz 1843 * ''

Pristis brachyodon ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and ...

'' Cope 1869 * ''

Pristis brayi ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and al ...

'' Casier 1949 * '' Pristis caheni'' Dartevelle and Casier 1959 * ''

Pristis contortus ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and ...

'' Dixon 1850 * '' Pristis curvidens'' Leidy 1855 * ''

Pristis dubius ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and al ...

'' Münster 1846 * ''

Pristis ensidens ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and al ...

'' Leidy 1855 * '' Pristis fajumensis'' Stromer 1905 * '' Pristis hastingsiae'' Agassiz 1843 * ''

Pristis lanceolatus ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and al ...

'' Jonet 1968 * ''

Pristis lathami ''Pristis lathami'' is a species of extinct sawfish in the family Pristidae. It lived in the Eocene era, in areas in Egypt, Nigeria, Togo, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Western Sahara, in marine areas, estuaries, bay ...

'' Galeotti 1837 * ''

Pristis olbrechtsi ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and al ...

'' Dartevelle and Casier 1959 * ''

Pristis pectinatus ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and ...

'' Latham 1794 * ''

Pristis pickeringi ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and al ...

'' Case 1981 * '' Pristis prosulcatus'' Stromer 1905 Pristidae - Pristis lathami

However, among this list are some species considered invalid by recent authorities and others now generally recognized as belonging in '' Anoxypristis''. Fossil ''Pristis'' range from the Late Paleocene to the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

period. Fossils have been found all over the world.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q683945 Marine fish genera