Fun Green Sawfish Facts For Kids
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The green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) belongs to the family Pristidae and genus Pristis. It is also known as a longcomb sawfish and a narrowsnout sawfish.
This fish is native to the central and Indo-West Pacific. The range distribution of this sawfish includes South Africa, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, south China Sea, southeast China, and Australia. The habitat of this sawfish consists of estuarine, mangrove, and coastal marine habitats.
It inhabits the bottoms of water bodies that consist of silt, mud, and sand. They are known to inhabit colder waters as compared to other sawfishes. This species is ovoviviparous with the birth taking place in inshore waters.
The young ones are known to stay near or around the coast for their initial years. There are around 12 young ones in a litter and this sawfish reaches maturity at about nine years of age.
This sawfish is greenish-brown to olive and white in color on the upper parts and underparts respectively. The teeth are on each side of the rostrum and look like a saw, hence the name.
The dorsal fins are placed behind the pelvic fins. There are around 23-37 teeth. The teeth are present on both sides of the rostrum.
The diet or food of this species includes crustaceans, small fish, and mollusks. This species is placed on the Red List of the IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) because they are placed under the Critically Endangered category of conservation status.
Some of the main threats include fishing and habitat loss as they are vulnerable to being caught in the fishing nets because of their saw. Some similar species include the largetooth sawfish, smalltooth sawfish, and dwarf sawfish.
Continue reading more interesting facts about the green sawfish and if you are interested, read our articles on the sandbar shark and the spinner shark.
Green Sawfish Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a green sawfish?
Green sawfish is a species of fish.
What class of animal does a green sawfish belong to?
It belongs to the class of Chondrichthyes of fish.
How many green sawfish are there in the world?
There is no exact count or number of the global population of green sawfishes recorded or estimated.
Where does a green sawfish live?
Green sawfish, which have the scientific name Pristis zijsron, are known to be native to the central and Indo-West Pacific. The range distribution of this fish includes South Africa, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, south China Sea, southeast China, and Australia.
What is a green sawfish's habitat?
The habitat of this fish consists of estuarine, mangrove, and coastal marine habitats. It inhabits the bottoms of water bodies that consist of silt, mud, or sand. They are known to inhabit colder waters compared to other sawfish.
Who do green sawfish live with?
Not much information is available about whether green sawfishes live alone or in groups.
How long does a green sawfish live?
The exact lifespan of green sawfishes (Pristis zijsron) is unknown.
How do they reproduce?
Not enough information is available about the reproduction of these fish, but they are ovoviviparous. Birth happens in inshore areas and the young ones are known to stay close to or around the coast for some initial years.
There are around 12 young ones in a litter. Young ones are 24-43 in (61-109 cm) at birth. Sexual maturity is attained at about 9 years of age and the length of a sawfish is around 132-144 in (335-366 cm) when they reach maturity.
What is their conservation status?
The green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) is placed under the Critically Endangered category of conservation status.
Green Sawfish Fun Facts
What do green sawfish look like?
The upper parts of this fish are greenish-brown to olive in color and the underparts are whitish in color. The teeth of this fish are near the rostrum base and look similar to a saw, hence the name of this fish.
There are 23-37 teeth on each side of the rostrum. The dorsal fin is located behind the pelvic fins. This species is quite similar to the dwarf sawfish and the smalltooth sawfish.
How cute are they?
This species of sawfish are not considered cute.
How do they communicate?
Not much information is available about the communication of this fish species, but just like with other sawfish, this longcomb sawfish communicates by using tactile and chemical cues.
How big is a green sawfish?
The length of this sawfish species is around 24 ft (7.3 m). This sawfish can be similar or larger in size than a smalltooth sawfish and a largetooth sawfish.
How fast can a green sawfish swim?
The exact speed of this sawfish is unknown.
How much does a green sawfish weigh?
The weight of sawfishes is around 700 lb (317.5 kg).
What are the male and female names of the species?
There are no specific names for a male and female of this species.
What would you call a baby green sawfish?
There is no particular name for a baby of this sawfish species but in general, it is referred to as juvenile or a young one.
What do they eat?
Green sawfish food or diet primarily consists of marine crustaceans, small fish, and mollusks.
Are they dangerous?
In general, these fish are considered to be harmless to humans but if captured, they might cause some serious injuries in the process of defending themselves.
Would they make a good pet?
They are illegal to have as pets.
Did you know...
This sawfish is known to have a small or no tail lobe like other sawfish, namely knifetooth sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata).
This longcomb sawfish is known to thrash its rostrum side to side to dislodge or displace prey from the seabed and knock out groups of fish.
The subpopulations found in Australia are known to be few but are considered viable.
The fins and saw of this fish are considered to be highly valuable. Some parts are used in Asian traditional medicine and the meat of this fish is consumed.
This longcomb sawfish is known to be threatened or highly affected by fishing and habitat loss because of its saw-like structure. This sawfish is prone or vulnerable to being caught in fishing nets or other kinds of nets which makes it hard to protect.
It is believed that this species, longcomb sawfish, survives in only 62% of its historical range.
Longcomb sawfish have very few predators, including crocodiles and sharks.
Due to this sawfish being Critically Endangered, international trade of longcomb sawfish is prohibited as this species is protected and is listed in the Convention of the International Trade in Endangered Species Appendix I.
How do you protect the green sawfish?
A certain level of protection is provided in countries or this species is protected in countries like Australia, Bangladesh, India, Bahrain, Malaysia, Qatar, Indonesia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. However, it is believed that the enforcement of these regulations of fishing is not taken seriously.
Do sawfish attack humans?
Sawfish in general are considered to be docile and do not harm humans until captured as they might lead to injuries when defending themselves. It is unlikely that a sawfish will kill humans.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other fish from our blacktip-reef shark facts and cownose ray facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable sawfish coloring pages.
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