Pristis pristis (Linnaeus, 1758)

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 45-46

Pristis pristis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Largetooth Sawfish

Squalus pristis Linnaeus, 1758: 235 . No types known. Type locality: Mediterranean Sea , Indian Ocean , western Atlantic; localities include Marseille, France ; Italy; Lesbos Island , Greece ; Syria; Brazil.

Local synonymy: Pristis perotteti— Herre, 1936: 434 (Koragu, Sepik River). Pristis microdon— Munro, 1958: 115 (Sepik River); Munro, 1964: 145 (southern New Guinea); Filewood, 1973: 10 (PNG); Berra et al., 1975: 319 (Laloki River system); Roberts, 1978: 26 (Middle Fly River); Haines, 1979a: 6 (Purari Delta); Haines, 1979b: 94 (Purari Delta); Coates, 1987: 236 (Sepik River); Allen & Coates, 1990: 33, 51 (Sepik River); Allen, 1991: 36 (Middle Fly River, Middle and Lower Sepik and Ramu rivers); Ishihara et al., 1991: 83 (Sepik River; Lake Murray; Oriomo River); Ogawa, 1991: 91 (Lake Murray; Sepik River); Tanaka, 1991: 71 (Lake Murray; Sepik River); Taniuchi et al., 1991: 27 (Sepik River; Lake Murray; Oriomo River); Taniuchi & Shimizu, 1991: 5 (Sepik River; Lake Murray; Oriomo River); Mizue & Hara, 1991: 63 (Sepik River); Watabe, 1991: 103 (Lake Murray; Sepik River); Allen et al., 1992: 296 (Bunapas village, Ramu River); Coates, 1993: 361 (Sepik River); Hyslop, 1996: 5 (Angabanga River); Powell & Powell, 1999: 350 (Bougainville); Swales et al., 1999: 404 (Fly River); Hitchcock, 2002: 120 (Bensbach River); Storey et al., 2009: 441 (Middle Fly River); Last & Stevens, 2009: 297 (PNG). Pristiopsis leichhardti— Munro, 1964: 145 (northern New Guinea); Munro, 1967: 19, pl. 2, fig. 25 (New Guinea). Pristiopsis microdon— Munro, 1967: 20, pl. 2, fig. 26 (New Guinea). Pristis pristis— Kailola, 1987: 24 (PNG); Faria et al., 2013: 140 (Ramu River; Bismarck Archipelago; Fly River; Strickland River); White et al., 2017a: 277 (PNG); White et al., 2018: 196, figs (PNG). Pristis sp. —? Kan & Taniuchi, 1991: 3 (near Angoram, Sepik River).

PNG voucher material: (25 spec.) AMS IB. 2854 (dried rostrum), 735 mm SL, Laloki River, near Bomana , Central Province, 6 Aug. 1952 ; CAS 63666 (two dried rostra), near Bunapas Mission, Ramu River , 18 Oct. 1987 ; CAS SU 41013, (dried rostrum), CAS SU 41014 (dried rostrum), Koragu , 215 miles from sea, Sepik River, 23 May 1929 ; FUMT-P10851 , juvenile male 801 mm TL, Magendo 3, Sepik River, 3 Sep. 1989 ; FUMT-P10854 , female 970 mm TL, Miwa, Lake Murray , 17 Sep. 1989 ; KFRS E.024 (dried rostrum), rostrum length 1270 mm, Pinupaka, Hall Sound , Central Province, Oct. 1963 ; KFRS E.026A (dried rostrum), rostrum length 194 mm, KFRS E.026B (dried rostrum), rostrum length 203 mm, Vanapa River , 40 miles upstream, Central Province, 27 Jun. 1964 ; KFRS E.027A (dried rostrum), rostrum length 225 mm, KFRS E.027B (dried rostrum), rostrum length 242 mm, Laloki River , Central Province, Aug. 1964 ; KFRS E.032A (dried rostrum), rostrum length 242 mm, KFRS E.032B (dried rostrum), rostrum length 263 mm, Yule Island , Central Province, Jun. 1964 ; KFRS E.429A (dried rostrum), rostrum length 292 mm, KFRS E.429B (dried rostrum), rostrum length 237 mm, Oriomo River , Western Province ; KFRS E. 774, Sapuka, Fly River , 8°10’1” S, 141°59’46” E, 21 Oct. 2007; QM I 3686 (dried rostrum), QM I 3687 (dried rostrum), no collection data (only PNG) ; USNM 217001 , female 809 mm TL, Lake Herbert Hoover and Wam River and swampy lagoons along Middle Fly , 509–512 km upriver from Toro Pass, Fly River Basin , 25 Nov. 1975 ; USNM 217002 , juvenile male 916 mm TL, side channel of Strickland 4 km downstream from Massy Bakers Junction, 450 km upriver from Toro pass, Fly River Basin, 6 Dec. 1975 ; ZMB 14507 (rostrum, jaw, cranium, stomach, scapulocoracoid, gills), Ramu River , 1896 or 1899 ; ZMB 32538 (dried rostrum), Bismarck Archipelago , 26 Nov. 1909 ; ZMB 33545, juvenile female ~ 780 mm TL, “ Tschessbandai ”, west of Koragu , Sepik River, Aug. 1913 ; ZMB 33553 (dried rostrum), New Guinea .

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Herre (1936) from Koragu in the Sepik River based on an expedition there in 1929; a specimen deposited at the ZMB collection in Berlin collected from Ramu River in either 1896 or 1899. White et al. (2017a) summarised published and unpublished sawfish records for PNG; most reports refer to just sawfish although many are attributable to this species. An additional 9 specimens (6 registered lots) from the KFRS collection are considered lost or destroyed; all collected in the mid 1960’s. Dried fins observed from coastal fisheries during recent surveys in the Gulf and Western Provinces; whole specimen observed in prawn trawl bycatch in 2014. Considered depleted from some river systems in PNG but more information is urgently required.