Saw sharks have an elongated snout and it is shaped like a ‘blade’ or ‘sword’. These sharks have long pair of barbels on their snout that look more like ‘mustache’. They have 5 gill slits except the Sixgill Sawshark. Unlike most sharks, they do not have anal fins. It has both small and large teeth in its jaws that are placed one after the other. There are 9 species of sawsharks.
It can grow as long as 5.6 feet in length.
A litter size can range from 7 to 17 pups.
Sawsharks inhabit Japan and all the way up to Australia from South Africa. In West Atlantic
, they are present in Cuba, Bahamas and Florida. In west Pacific, they are found in Japan and Australia. In the Indian Ocean, they are present in South Africa.
They are found off shallow coastal bays and estuaries. They occupy depths of at least 130 feet.
Sawsharks eat crustaceans like krill, lobsters and crabs as well as squid and fish.
They bear close resemblance to sawfishes. However, sawfish does not have barbels and it is also bigger in size. Unlike saw sharks, the gill slits on sawfishes are located on the underside just like in other rays. Above all, sawfish is a ray and not a shark.
