Sawfish Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Long, flat, blade-shaped rostrum ('saw') lined with paired, evenly spaced teeth along both edges
• Elongated, shark-like body plan despite being a true ray, with gill slits located on the underside
• Two large, well-developed dorsal fins and a strong lower lobe on the caudal fin
• Gray to olive-brown dorsal coloration fading to a pale or white belly
• Broad, flattened head tapering smoothly into the rostrum

Common look-alikes

• Sawshark: a true shark, not a ray, with a similar tooth-lined snout but bears a pair of long barbels partway along the rostrum and has gill slits on the sides of the head rather than underneath
• Guitarfish: has a shark-like body shape but lacks any elongated, tooth-lined rostrum
• Shovelnose ray: broad, flattened snout but no blade-like saw or marginal teeth

Where you'll see one

Sawfish inhabit shallow coastal waters, estuaries, mangroves, and river mouths of tropical and subtropical regions, though populations have become extremely rare and localized due to historic overfishing and habitat loss.

The unmistakable tooth-lined saw is sufficient on its own for identification; checking for barbels along its length, which sawsharks have and sawfish do not, resolves any remaining confusion.