Pristis pectinata Latham, 1794

Jones, Christian M., Driggers Iii, William B., Hannan, Kristin M., Hoffmayer, Eric R., Jones, Lisa M. & Raredon, Sandra J., 2020, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyan fishes inhabiting the northern Gulf of Mexico Part 1: Batoidea, Zootaxa 4803 (2), pp. 281-315 : 283-284

Pristis pectinata Latham, 1794 —smalltooth sawfish

Synonyms:

Pristis acutirostris Dumeril, 1865

Pristis annandalei Chaudhuri, 1908

Pristis granulosa Bloch & Schneider, 1801

Pristis megalodon Dumeril, 1865

Pristis mississippiensis Rafinesque, 1820

Pristis pectinatus Latham, 1794

Pristis serra Bloch & Schneider, 1801

Pristis woermanni Fischer, 1884

Pristobatus occa Dumeril, 1865

Distribution. Once widely distributed throughout the northern GOM the range of this species is predominantly restricted to the coastal and estuarine waters of the eastern GOM, mostly off the west coast of Florida. However, several recent reports of juvenile sawfish catches from the coastal waters of Mississippi and Louisiana are likely of this species, possibly indicating a small population in the north central GOM as well.

First Record in GOM. Rafinesque (1820) described Pristis mississippiensis as occurring in several freshwater rivers associated with the GOM and Lake Ponchartrain, an estuary of the GOM. De Carvalho and McEachran (2003) consider P. mississippiensis as a possible synonym of P. pristis (Linnaeus, 1758) , likely based on Rafinesque (1820) reporting the occurrence of the proposed species far inland (Arkansas and Ohio Rivers). However, the description of the sole rostrum provided by Rafinesque (1820) more closely resembles P. pectinata (26-27 teeth on the rostrum); the species Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) and Faria et al. (2013) consider P. mississippiensis to be synonymous with. We also consider P. mississippiensis a synonym of P. pectinata and therefore suggest its description the first record of that species from the GOM region.

Remarks. The taxonomic history of this species is convoluted, due partially to its former widespread distribution. This species appears now to be restricted primarily to the Atlantic Ocean ( Last et al. 2016) including the Mediterranean Sea and the GOM. However, synonymy of Pristis annandalei (described from a single specimen collected off the coast of Myanmar) with this species would apparently indicate historical populations in the Indian Ocean that have been extirpated.

Conservation Status. Critically Endangered, listed as Endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act.