Genus Pristiophorus

Summary:
A small group of slender flattened sharks with an narrow, flattened tapering rostrum edged with slender sharp rostral teeth, and a pair of long rostral barbels in front of the nostrils. Sawsharks have two dorsal fins, a short transverse mouth, small cuspidate teeth in both jaws and no anal fin.

Key to Australian species of Pristiophorus (modified from Ebert & Wilms 2013)

1a. Rostrum short, broad, and strongly tapering, pre-oral length 22 to 24% of total length. Snout width at nostrils 2.7 to 4.3 times in pre-orbital length. Nostrils about equidistant between barbels and mouth corners. Nostrils diagonally oval and elongated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pristiophorus nudipinnis (southern Australia)

1b. Rostrum more elongated, narrower, and less strongly tapering, pre-oral length 25 to 32% of total length. Snout width at nostrils 4.4 to 6.1 times in pre-orbital length. Nostrils considerably closer to mouth corners than to barbels. Nostrils transversely oval, nearly circular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2a. Body and fins with a colour pattern of dark blotches and spots (occasionally faint). Pre-barbel rostrum length from only 40 to 43% of pre-oral length  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pristiophorus cirratus (southern Australia)

2b. Body and fins uniform in colour. Pre-barbel rostrum length 45 to 51% of pre-oral length  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pristiophorus delicatus (N QLD)

Author: Dianne J. Bray

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Cite this page as:
Dianne J. Bray, Pristiophorus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 13 Sep 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/genus/1220

References

Ebert, D.A. & Cailliet, G.M. 2011. Pristiophorus nancyae, a new species of sawshark (Chondrichthyes: Pristiophoridae) from southern Africa.Bulletin Marine Science 87(3): 501–512. http://dx.doi.org/10.5343/bms.2010.1108 PDF Open access

Ebert, D.A. & Wilms, H.A. 2013. Pristiophorus lanae sp. nov., a new sawshark species from the Western North Pacific, with comments on the genus Pristiophorus Müller & Henle, 1837 (Chondrichthyes: Pristiophoridae). Zootaxa 3752 (1): 086–100. PDF Open Access


Yearsley, G.K., Last, P.R. & White, W.T. 2008. A new species of sawshark, Pristiophorus delicatus sp. nov. (Pristiophoriformes: Pristiophoridae), from northeastern Australia. In: Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J. (eds), Descriptions of new Australian chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper 022: 23–33.