The sawshark uses its serrated snout as both a sensory array and a weapon.

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Equipped with a long, tooth-edged rostrum and sensitive barbels, the sawshark is a master of the ocean floor. While often confused with sawfish, these sharks are distinct predators that use electroreception to hunt buried prey, slashing at them with side-to-side movements of their unique, blade-like snouts.

Sawsharks belong to the order Pristiophoriformes, a group of ten known species characterized by their elongated, saw-like snouts. Unlike sawfish, which are actually a type of ray, sawsharks possess gill slits on the sides of their heads, a hallmark of their shark lineage. Their rostrum is not merely a weapon; it is a sophisticated sensory tool embedded with ampullae of Lorenzini, which allow the shark to detect the faint electric fields generated by prey hiding beneath the sand. A pair of barbels, located halfway along the snout, acts as additional antennae to help the shark navigate the benthic environment.

The hunting mechanism of the sawshark remains a subject of study, but researchers believe they use their saws to disable small fish, squid, and crustaceans. By swinging their rostrum in rapid side-to-side motions, they can cripple their targets before consuming them. This specialized snout also serves a defensive purpose against other predators. Despite their fearsome appearance, these sharks are generally elusive, preferring deep-water habitats that limit their interaction with humans. Most species are found at depths of 40 to 100 meters, though some, like the Bahamas sawshark, have been discovered at depths exceeding 900 meters.

Reproduction in sawsharks is ovoviviparous, meaning the eggs hatch internally. Females give birth to litters of 3 to 22 pups every two years after a 12-month gestation period. To protect the mother during development, the pups are born with their rostral teeth angled backward. Because they inhabit such deep, inaccessible regions, much of the sawshark's life history remains poorly understood. Aging these creatures is particularly challenging, as they lack the vertebral banding patterns commonly used to determine the age of other elasmobranchs. Consequently, while they are thought to live for at least a decade, their exact longevity remains a mystery to marine biologists.

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