Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 134, February 2016, pp. 1-44. | Page 27

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Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-von Jaffa studying the Rostrum fossil
of the Short-toothed Sawfish at Wadi El-Hitan (Whales Valley), Al-Fayyum, Al-Sahraa
Al-Gharbiah (Western Desert), Egypt. Photo: Ola Mostafa Khalaf. 11.07.2012.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15298042618/

Description
The sawfish's most distinctive feature is the saw-like rostrum, covered with
electro-sensitive pores that allow the sawfish to detect slight movements of prey
hiding in the muddy sea floor. The rostrum also serves as a digging tool to
unearth buried crustaceans. Should suitable prey try to swim past, the normally
lethargic sawfish springs from the bottom and slashes at it with its saw. This
generally stuns or impales the prey sufficiently for the sawfish to devour it.
Sawfish also defend themselves with their rostrum against intruding divers and
predators such as sharks. The "teeth" protruding from the rostrum are not real
teeth, but modified tooth-like structures called denticles (Wikipedia).
The body and head of a sawfish are flat, and they spend most of their time lying
on the sea floor. Like rays, a sawfish's mouth and nostrils are on its flat
underside. The mouth is lined with small, dome-shaped teeth for eating small
fish and crustaceans; sometimes the fish swallows them whole. Sawfish breathe
with two spiracles just behind the eyes that draw water to the gills. The skin is
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 134 – February 2016