Pristis Explained

Pristis is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers.[1] Sawfish have declined drastically and all species are considered critically endangered today.[2] [3]

Taxonomy

The scientific genus name Pristis is derived from the Greek word for saw.[4]

Living species

Recent authorities recognize four species:[2] [3] [5] [6]

These are divided into two species groups. Most are considered a part of the smalltooth group, except P. pristis which is the sole member of the largetooth group.[7] Two additional species, P. microdon and P. perotteti, have historically been recognized, but in 2013 it was shown that they are conspecific with P. pristis as morphological and genetic differences are lacking,[7] leading recent authorities to treat them as synonyms.[3] [5] [6] [8] [9] [10] Anoxypristis cuspidata was formerly included in Pristis, but it has a number of distinctive features (for example, no teeth on the basal quarter of the saw) and recent authorities place it in its own genus.[1] [3] [5]

Extinct species

According to Fossilworks, extinct Pristis species only known from fossil remains include:[11]

However, among this list are some species considered invalid by recent authorities and others now generally recognized as belonging in Anoxypristis.[12] [13] [14] Fossil Pristis range from the Late Paleocene to the Quaternary period.[12] [15] Fossils have been found all over the world.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Peter R. Last . William T. White . Marcelo R. de Carvalho . Bernard Séret . Matthias F. W. Stehmann . Gavin J. P. Naylor . Rays of the World . 2016 . . 59–66 . 978-0-643-10914-8 .
  2. Web site: 14 November 2017 . Pristis . International Union for Conservation of Nature, Red List of Threatened Species . 14 November 2017 .
  3. Nicholas K. Dulvy . Lindsay N. K. Davidson . Peter M. Kyne . Colin A. Simpfendorfer . Lucy R. Harrison . John K. Carlson . Sonja V. Fordham . 2014 . Ghosts of the coast: global extinction risk and conservation of sawfishes . Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. . 26 . 1 . 134–153 . 10.1002/aqc.2525 . free .
  4. Web site: Sullivan, T. . C. Elenberger . April 2012 . Largetooth Sawfish . University of Florida . 14 November 2017 .
  5. Web site: Eschmeyer, W.N. . R. Fricke . R. van der Laan . 1 November 2017 . Catalog of Fishes . . 14 November 2017 .
  6. Book: Last, P.R.. Peter R. Last. De Carvalho, M.R. . Corrigan, S. . Naylor, G.J.P. . Séret, B. . Yang, L. . 2016 . The Rays of the World project - an explanation of nomenclatural decisions . 1–10 . Last, P.R. . Yearsley, G.R. . Rays of the World: Supplementary Information . CSIRO Special Publication . 978-1-4863-0801-9 .
  7. Faria, V. V.; McDavitt, M. T.; Charvet, P.; Wiley, T. R.; Simpfendorfer, C. A.; Naylor, G. J. P. (2013). Species delineation and global population structure of Critically Endangered sawfishes (Pristidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 167: 136–164. .
  8. Espinoza, M. . Bonfil-Sanders, R. . Carlson, J. . Charvet, P. . Chevis, M. . Dulvy, N.K. . Everett, B. . Faria, V. . Ferretti, F. . Fordham, S. . Grant, M.I. . Haque, A.B. . Harry, A.V. . Jabado, R.W. . Jones, G.C.A. . Kelez, S. . Lear, K.O. . Morgan, D.L. . Phillips, N.M. . Wueringer, B.E. . 2022 . Pristis pristis . 2022 . e.T18584848A58336780 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T18584848A58336780.en . 14 October 2023.
  9. Web site: 2017 . Pristis pristis — Freshwater Sawfish, Largetooth Sawfish, River Sawfish, Leichhardt's Sawfish, Northern Sawfish . . 14 November 2017 .
  10. Web site: Pollerspöck, J. . N. Straube . Pristis pristis . shark-references.com . 14 November 2017 .
  11. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=34700 Fossilworks
  12. Wueringer, B.E. . L. Squire Jr. . S.P. Collin . 2009 . The biology of extinct and extant sawfish (Batoidea: Sclerorhynchidae and Pristidae) . Rev Fish Biol Fisheries . 19 . 4 . 445–464 . 10.1007/s11160-009-9112-7 . 3352391 .
  13. Martien J P. Van Oijen . Vicente Faria . Matthew T. McDavitt . 2007 . The curious holotype of Pristis dubius Bleeker, 1852 and the unravelling of Bleeker's sawfish taxonomy . Raffles Bulletin of Zoology . 14 . 37–49.
  14. Web site: Introduction . Fossil Sawfish . 17 November 2017 .
  15. Cicimurri, D.J. . 2009 . A Partial Rostrum of the Sawfish Pristis lathami Galeotti, 1837, from the Eocene of South Carolina . Journal of Paleontology . 81 . 3 . 597–601 . 10.1666/05086.1 . 130683481 .

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