The common sawfish, Pristis pristis, is a sawfish

Sawfish

Sawfish, also known as the Carpenter Shark, are a family of rays, characterized by a long, toothy nose extension snout. Several species can grow to approximately . The family as a whole is largely unknown and little studied...

 of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Pristidae, found in tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic, Mediterranean, eastern Pacific and in northern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. As suggested by its name, it was once plentiful, but has now declined drastically leading to it being considered a critically endangered

Critically endangered

Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

 species by the IUCN. Its maximum length is 7.5 metres (24.6 ft), though 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) is more common. Reproduction is ovoviviparous. Its taxonomy

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 remains unresolved, and it forms a species complex

Species complex

A species complex is a group of closely related species, where the exact demarcation between species is often unclear or cryptic owing to their recent and usually still incomplete reproductive isolation. Ring species, superspecies and cryptic species complex are example of species complex...

 together with P. microdon

Largetooth sawfish

The largetooth sawfish , also known as the Leichhardt's sawfish or freshwater sawfish, is a sawfish of the family Pristidae, found in shallow Indo-West Pacific oceans between latitudes 11° N and 39° S. As its relatives, it also enters freshwater. This critically endangered species reaches a length...

and P. perotteti

Large-tooth sawfish

The large-tooth sawfish, Pristis perotteti, is a sawfish of the family Pristidae, found in tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic and east Pacific, but possibly now extirpated from most of the east Atlantic. As its relatives, it also enters freshwater, and there are records as far inland...

.