Knifetooth sawfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the knifetooth sawfish lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Anoxypristis cuspidata
Group	Rays, skates & chimaeras
Status	Critically endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Rhinopristiformes
Family	Pristidae

Where does the knifetooth sawfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the knifetooth sawfish in 2 countries and territories across Oceania. Wikidata gives its range as: New Guinea.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the knifetooth sawfish endangered?

The knifetooth sawfish’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Critically endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the knifetooth sawfish?

The knifetooth sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Rhinopristiformes and the family Pristidae, genus Anoxypristis. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the knifetooth sawfish

The narrow sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata), also known as the pointed sawfish or knifetooth sawfish, is a species of sawfish in the family Pristidae, part of the Batoidea, a superorder of cartilaginous fish that include the rays and skates. Sawfish display a circumglobal distribution in warm marine and freshwater habitats. Their extant biodiversity is limited to five species belonging to two genera (Pristis and Anoxypristis). The sawfishes are characterised by the long, narrow, flattened rostrum or extension on their snout. This is lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles the teeth of a saw and are used for killing prey. It is found in the shallow coastal waters and estuaries of the Indo-West Pacific, ranging from the Persian Gulf to southern Japan, Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. It is the only living member of the genus Anoxypristis, but was previously included in the genus Pristis. Compared to Pristis, Anoxypristis has a narrower rostral saw with numerous teeth on the distal part and no teeth on the basal one-quarter (toothless section about one-sixth in juveniles). It reaches a length of up to 3.5 m (11 ft).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Knifetooth sawfish (revision 1376370031), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q135965 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).