Sawing skate

Sawing skate (Pristidae), often also Sawing fish called, are skates, some shark-similar body rather stretched have. Their most remarkable characteristic is the saw, more knoecherner, laterally with teeth occupied excrescence of the head, the more than 25 % of the overall length of the fish to constitute can. Sawing skates have two dorsal fins and a large schwanzflosse. A schwanzstachel is missing. The skin is like those of the sharks also Placoidschuppen occupied.

One should it not with that Sawing sharks (Pristiophoridae) confound, in one convergent Evolution a similar appearance have and as Plattenkiemer (Elasmobranchii) are related to the sawing skates. The Barteln is missing to the sawing skate, those the sawing sharks to both sides of the saw carry. In addition the sawing skates become much larger, between 4,70 and 7.60 meters. Only Pristis clavata remains meters rather small with 1.40.

Occurrence

Sawing skates live within tropical ranges of the Atlantic and of the Indopazifik, always in proximity to the coast. Five kinds live at the coast Australia. Sawing skates go also into those Brackish water zones and several hundred kilometers swim into the underflows of large rivers Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia and of the Amazon. Pristis perotteti became also in Nicaragua lake found.

That usual sawing fish (Pristis pristis) comes also into subtropical Waters forwards, z.B. in the western Mediterranean or in the cooler east Pacific of Gulf of California until Ekuador.

Reproduction

Sawing skates are living-bearing (ovovivipar). They can get more than 20 boy. The saw is still soft with the birth and becomes only hard if that Dottersack is used up.

Kind list

• Anoxypristis cuspidata
• Dwarf AEG skate (Pristis clavata)
• Leichhard's sawing skate (Pristis microdon)
• Pristis pectinata
• Pristis perotteti
• Usual sawing fish (Pristis pristis)
• Pristis zijsron

Web on the left of

• Sawing skate with Fishbase (EN)