Overview
The Longnose Sawshark (Pristiophorus cirratus) is a distinctive, bottom-dwelling elasmobranch native to the temperate continental shelf waters of southern Australia. Readily distinguished from the unrelated sawfishes by its lateral gill slits, slender body, and prominent pair of sensory barbels positioned halfway down its tooth-fringed rostrum, this specialized predator cruises sandy ocean floors, using its biological blade to detect, unearth, and incapacitate buried prey.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Reaching up to 5 feet in total length, Pristiophorus cirratus features a slender, brownish-yellow body with faint dark blotches and five lateral gill slits situated on the sides of its head. Its most remarkable feature is a flat, elongated rostrum that constitutes nearly one-third of its total body length. The edges of the rostrum are lined with sharp, alternating long and short rostral teeth that are continuously shed and replaced throughout life. Halfway along the snout, a pair of long, fleshy sensory barbels trailing downward are equipped with chemoreceptors and electroreceptors capable of detecting the faint bioelectric signals of crustaceans buried under the seafloor.
Behavior and Ecology
Longnose sawsharks are nocturnal bottom foragers that cruise slowly above sediment beds. When hunting, the shark sweeps its rostrum in wide, side-to-side arcs like a metal detector over sand and silt. Upon detecting a fish, crab, or squid, it uses explosive, slashing side-to-side swipes of its saw to slice through shoals or stun and dislodge prey from benthic substrates before pinning it to the bottom and swallowing it whole. Reproduction is ovoviviparous; females give birth to live litters of 6 to 22 pups whose rostral teeth remain folded safely under skin sheaths until birth to prevent injuring the mother.
Conservation and Human Impact
Classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, the Longnose Sawshark maintains stable and healthy populations throughout Australian waters. Although frequently taken as commercial bycatch in bottom trawl and gillnet shark fisheries, comprehensive fishery management plans and catch limits enforced by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) ensure sustainable harvesting without threatening stock viability.
Interesting Factoid
To protect their mother during birth, baby Longnose Sawsharks have soft rostral teeth completely wrapped in a protective membrane of skin, which only rolls back to expose the razor-sharp saw teeth after they enter the ocean.
Last updated: October 2026