To catch a big fish, one often needs a big rod and reel. Jeremy Wade prepares to catch a freshwater sawfish, which can grow to 20 feet and over 400 pounds.
Image Credit: Poppy Chandler/Icon Films
The freshwater sawfish has a long, blade-like snout called a rostrum. Lined with between 14 and 23 toothlike denticles, called rostral teeth, the rostrum is used primarily to catch prey.
Image Credit: Poppy Chandler/Icon Films
A sawfish on the hunt will swing its blade from side to side to separate invertebrates from the surfaces they live on, and to stun schools of fish. They also like to eat freshwater prawn and shrimp.
Image Credit: Poppy Chandler/Icon Films
The freshwater sawfish has relatively underdeveloped eyes and poor eyesight. It relies on its highly sensitive rostrum — which is covered with motion- and electro-sensitive pores — to navigate and locate prey in the shallow, muddy waters it calls home.
Image Credit: Poppy Chandler/Icon Films
The sawfish has a flat body, perfect for coasting along the riverbed. Like stingrays, its mouth and nostrils are found on the flat underside of its body instead of up front.
Image Credit: Poppy Chandler/Icon Films
Inside its mouth, the freshwater sawfish has some 17,000 small teeth. Its outer teeth can reach up to two inches long.
Image Credit: Poppy Chandler/Icon Films
All species of freshwater sawfish are considered critically endangered. They're hunted for their rostrum (prized as a curiosity), fins (sold as meat) and skin (made into leather). And their eggs, liver oil and bile are used in traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, freshwater sawfish are accidentally caught as bycatch in fishing nets.
More Killer Fish Photos | About the Freshwater Sawfish | How to Catch a Freshwater Sawfish (video) | Massive Freshwater Sawfish (video) | A Monster in Miniature (video) | The Elusive Sawfish (video)
Image Credit: Poppy Chandler/Icon Films
