Current status: Critically Endangered
Found in: Subtropical and tropical freshwater, marine, and coastal habitats globally
Interesting biology: Long, toothed rostrum, used to hunt for prey. There can be as many as 37 teeth on each side of the rostrum.
Pristis zijsron has the longest rostrum of all species, measuring almost two metres in length.
Population status: Evidence from fishing and bycatch reports that many populations have been greatly depleted or lost from large areas of their former range
Traded as: Lived animals for public aquaria; fins for shark-fin soup; meat as food; rostral saws as curios and ceremonial weapons; rostral teeth as cockfighting spurs; flesh, rostra, skin, liver oil, and bile for traditional medicines.
Caught in: Directed fisheries, also as
bycatch as their rostrum makes these species particularly prone to accidental entanglement in nets and other fishing gear
