Pristidae Bonaparte 1835

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 11

Family Pristidae Bonaparte 1835 ( Fig. 2B ). Sawfishes; Pejesierras, Pejeserruchos, Pejepeines

Description: Body elongate and depressed at front, shark-like; up to 500 cm in length; snout produced in a long flat blade with teeth on each side (teeth of equal size and embedded in deep sockets); anterior edge of the greatly pectoral fins attached to the sides of the head via the anteorbital cartilage; eyes and spiracles on dorsal surface; gill openings ventral; pelvic fins modified as copulatory organs in males; two distinct dorsal fins; caudal fin present ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine (rarely occurring in freshwater and ascending rivers), continental shelves; circumtropical, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans ( Nelson et al. 2016). One genus and two species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 1; Carcharhinidae (A), Pristidae (B), Dasyatidae (C), Potamotrygonidae (D), Lepisosteidae (E), Elopidae (F), Megalopidae (G), Ophichthidae (H), Anguillidae (I), Engraulidae (J), Pristigasteridae (K), Dorosomatidae (L) and Cyprinidae (M). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).