Genus: Pristiophorus, Saw Shark, Saw Sharks

PRISTIOPHORUS

SAW SHARKS

Head greatly depressed and somewhat expanded laterally snout very long, greatly flattened, laterally expanded, with 17-43 large, close–set lateral and ventral saw-teeth (enlarged skin denticles) and a pair of long string–like rostral barbels on the ventral surface before nostrils; eyes dorsolateral on head; spiracles large, just behind at level of eyes; 5 gill slits on sides of head, all before pectoral–fin origins; mouth small, broadly arched and short, extending slightly behind eyes; teeth very small, conical, alike on both jaws; trunk cylindrical, not flattened and ray–like; tail base with long thick lateral dermal ridges; skin denticles covering entire body, close-set or overlapping; pectoral fins moderately large; pelvic fins small, with vent continuous with their inner margins; 2 moderately large, spineless dorsal fins, origin of first over abdomen, well before pelvic–fin bases; anal fin absent; tail fin with a long dorsal lobe and no ventral lobe.

Eight species, all three oceans; 1 endemic to Greater Caribbean.