Sawfish inject to net fame when the cosmos cotton on to how soundly unimpressed they appear when discern from below , with their looong rostrums ( the pointy bits on fish which sometimeskill massive sharks ) move over them a tangible air of despair . Are they the ocean ’s most judgmental fish ? Thesespecies notice in 2020certainly seem to think so . Whilst perhaps not the sea ’s most magnetic metal money , these Rhinopristiformes ( that are closely related to sharks ) have been roaming the sea for100 millionyears , and – in their defense – you might not look all that impressed to feel yourself on the brink ofextinction .
While endangered , sawfish achieved a new milepost last week as reports led theFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission(FWC ) to the carcass of a 4.9 - meter ( 16 - foot ) long female that had beenfound deadin Florida Keys . Though it was the terminal of the crinkle for the deceased brute , the discovery marks the large sawfish on phonograph recording , weighing around 363 to 454 kg ( 800 to 1000 pound ) . This distaff specimen exceed the old book holder , who was found to be 4.3 meters ( 14 feet ) long at 14 old age of age .
consecrated inquiry into these fish began roughly two decades ago , so there is still much mystery story surrounding the unique - looking shark ( though we do know they havevirgin births ) . The record - break down female and another numb specimen found at the same time will now be analyse to find out more about their anatomy , long time and potentially why they died .
“ Tissue was take for DNA analytic thinking that will be compare to other sawfish that have been studied throughout Florida , ” said Rachel Scharer of the FWC in an e-mail to IFLScience . “ We ’re append to our cognition of when sawfish mature , and we will be able-bodied to learn more about the average size of it at maturity date for female sawfish from these two . Often these necropsies also help us learn about leech they might be carry . ”
" The geezerhood of a sawfish can be estimated in a way similar to that of age tree , as the structure of their vertebrae correlates to the animal ’s old age . The oldest known specimen aged using this method was found to be 14 long time old , but the oldest known shark determine from recapture was 19 years old , so it will be interesting to see how the age of the disc - breaking female compares , " Scharer stay on .
“ Right now , it ’s beautiful in Florida and people are out angle and boat so we are drive calls and emails about healthy sawfish almost every twenty-four hours . call option about departed sawfish are more uncommon , between 5 - 10 a year . "
“ They are endangered , so they are n’t really ' vulgar ' anywhere . Luckily when we receive face-off report or when scientists run into them in the field while doing enquiry , they are typically healthy . However , in the past few year we have seen an increase number of sawfish mire with egg bungee cords often used to secure boat aerodynamic lift canopy ’s near intemperately develop areas , such as the Charlotte Harbor estuary . ”
If you see a at rest sawfish or a live shark that appear hurt , you may call 1 - 844 - 4SAWFISH ( 844 - 472 - 9347 ) or email sawfish@myfwc.com . More information on sawfish is useable atsawfishrecovery.org . The FWC are also expect for anyone who has any character ofsawfish encounterto let them know at Sawfish@myfwc.com ( or 1(844)4SAWFISH ) to facilitate with their on-going research into these flakey but amazing shark .
