The shortnose sawshark, (''Pristiophorus nudipinnis'') or southern sawshark, is a

sawshark A sawshark or saw shark is a member of a shark order (Pristiophoriformes ) bearing a unique long, saw-like rostrum (snout or bill) edged with sharp teeth, which they use to slash and disable their prey. There are eight species within the Pristi ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Pristiophoridae. The body of this shark is slightly compressed, and its rostrum is narrow. The two dorsal fins are almost identical in size. In color, the dorsal side of this sawshark tends to be uniformly slate gray, with few or no markings. The ventral side is pale white or cream. Females reach around long, and males reach around long. These sharks can live up to 9 years.

Behavior

Leading a

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

lifestyle, the shortnose sawshark primarily feeds on benthic invertebrates and small bony fish. Like other sawsharks, this species' reproduction is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...

. It gives birth biannually to a litter of 7-14 pups. The size of pups at birth is about .

Conservation

Because of stable commercial catch rates, reduced Total Allowable Catch, protection in Victorian waters, and a high rate of biological productivity, the shortnose sawshark is listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

. While the shortnose sawshark is fairly popular commercially, the largest threat to the species is being caught as bycatch in gillnet operations. Because of its habitat, size, and behavior, this species is considered to be harmless to humans.

References

External links

Species Description of Pristiophorus nudipinnis at www.shark-references.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q28807 Pristiophorus Fish described in 1870 Taxa named by Albert Günther