Pristis perotteti

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	CHONDRICHTHYES	RAJIFORMES	PRISTIDAE

Scientific Name:

Pristis perotteti

Species Authority:

Valenciennes, in Müller & Henle, 1841

Common Name/s:

English

–

Largetooth Sawfish

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Critically Endangered A2abcd ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2007

Assessor/s

Charvet-Almeida, P., Faria, V., Furtado, M., Cook, S.F., Compagno L.J.V. & Oetinger, M.I.

Evaluator/s:

Simpfendorfer, C., Kyne, P.K. & Valenti, S.V. (Shark Red List Authority)

Justification:
A large, previously widely distributed marine, estuarine and freshwater sawfish. It has been taken in (former) directed fisheries and is extremely vulnerable to bycatch in virtually all fisheries throughout its tropical Atlantic range. The relationship of this species, to a similar form that occurs in the tropical Eastern Pacific is uncertain, but is currently being investigated, and the present assessment relates only to the Atlantic form. The species has been extirpated from most of its former range and its population status is known to be critical especially in Lake Nicaragua, other Central/South American sites and in West Africa. Artisanal and commercial landings are in decline in regions where it still occurs. Habitat degradation (mainly mangrove destruction) is also a threat. Information on biology and ecology is known only from an overfished population in Lake Nicaragua (Nicaragua), but it is a long-lived species with little capacity to recover from depletion. This species is assessed as Critically Endangered on the basis of observed and inferred declines in abundance in both the Eastern and Western Atlantic where it is believed to have been extirpated from much of its former range. Further data on the biology and trade of this species is being collected.

History:

2000	–	Critically Endangered
1996	–	Endangered

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Western Atlantic: USA (Texas (historically), Louisiana, and occasionally south Florida), Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Caribbean Sea, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Historically reported from: Gibraltar, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zaire, Angola, and also possibly in the Mediterranean Sea. Present reported range: Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
Countries:	Native: Belize; Brazil; Colombia; Costa Rica; French Guiana; Guatemala; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Suriname; United States (Florida, Louisiana, Texas - Possibly Extinct); Venezuela Possibly extinct: Angola; Benin; Cameroon; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Equatorial Guinea; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Gibraltar; Guinea; Liberia; Mali; Mauritania; Morocco; Nigeria; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Spain; Togo; Western Sahara
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:	Native: Atlantic – western central; Atlantic – southeast; Atlantic – southwest; Atlantic – eastern central

Population [top]

Population:	The population size of this species remains unknown. Its abundance has been continuously declining over the past few decades to the point that it can now be considered rare or even extirpated in some areas where it was previously considered a common species. Probably the largest or one of the last largest populations survives in the northern region of South America (P. Charvet-Almeida pers. obs).
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	A large-bodied euryhaline sawfish of warm-temperate and tropical waters (>18°C to at least 30°C). Mostly nearshore marine, brackish and freshwater (river and lake) environments (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b), but adults may occur across the continental shelf. Though not precisely known, it probably spends most of its time on or near the bottom. However, it is also commonly observed in the wild and in public aquaria swimming quite near the surface for extended periods of time. The largetooth sawfish is an adept predator, feeding on a variety of small bony fishes, which it stuns with its saw before consuming, and invertebrates, which it stirs with its saw from the substrate (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b, McCormack et al. 1963, T.B. Thorson pers. comm). It is ovoviviparous and gives birth to 1 to 13 fully developed young per litter with 7 to 9 young being the most common litter sizes (Thorson 1976). Size at birth is about 76 cm TL (Nicaraguan specimens) or slightly less (around 60 cm TL) for northern Brazil (P. Charvet-Almeida pers. obs). In Lake Nicaragua the breeding season has been reported to be in early June and sometimes July. After a five-month gestation, young are born from early October to perhaps early December (Oetinger 1978). Size and age at sexual maturity for both males and females is 240 to 300 cm at about 10 years old (Thorson 1982b). Mean generation time for this species is thought to be about 16 years (Simpfendorfer 2000). Mean maximum adult size is at least 570 cm TL and as much as 700 cm TL (Almeida 1999), though specimens residing in Lake Nicaragua reach only about 430 cm TL maximum. It attains a maximum weight of at least 608 kg (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b, Oetinger 1978). Its lifespan in the wild is unknown, although its maximum age is thought to be around 30 years (Cook et al. 2005). Demographic analysis for P. perotteti, based on life history parameters from the Lake Nicaragua stock, produces estimates of intrinsic rates of increase of 0.05 to 0.07 year^-1, and population doubling times of 10.3 to 13.6 years (Simpfendorfer 2000). There is no information regarding its life history characteristics from elsewhere within its range.
Systems:	Freshwater; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

A large-bodied euryhaline sawfish of warm-temperate and tropical waters (>18°C to at least 30°C). Mostly nearshore marine, brackish and freshwater (river and lake) environments (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b), but adults may occur across the continental shelf. Though not precisely known, it probably spends most of its time on or near the bottom. However, it is also commonly observed in the wild and in public aquaria swimming quite near the surface for extended periods of time.

The largetooth sawfish is an adept predator, feeding on a variety of small bony fishes, which it stuns with its saw before consuming, and invertebrates, which it stirs with its saw from the substrate (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b, McCormack et al. 1963, T.B. Thorson pers. comm). It is ovoviviparous and gives birth to 1 to 13 fully developed young per litter with 7 to 9 young being the most common litter sizes (Thorson 1976). Size at birth is about 76 cm TL (Nicaraguan specimens) or slightly less (around 60 cm TL) for northern Brazil (P. Charvet-Almeida pers. obs). In Lake Nicaragua the breeding season has been reported to be in early June and sometimes July. After a five-month gestation, young are born from early October to perhaps early December (Oetinger 1978). Size and age at sexual maturity for both males and females is 240 to 300 cm at about 10 years old (Thorson 1982b). Mean generation time for this species is thought to be about 16 years (Simpfendorfer 2000). Mean maximum adult size is at least 570 cm TL and as much as 700 cm TL (Almeida 1999), though specimens residing in Lake Nicaragua reach only about 430 cm TL maximum. It attains a maximum weight of at least 608 kg (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953b, Oetinger 1978). Its lifespan in the wild is unknown, although its maximum age is thought to be around 30 years (Cook et al. 2005).

Demographic analysis for P. perotteti, based on life history parameters from the Lake Nicaragua stock, produces estimates of intrinsic rates of increase of 0.05 to 0.07 year^-1, and population doubling times of 10.3 to 13.6 years (Simpfendorfer 2000). There is no information regarding its life history characteristics from elsewhere within its range.

Systems:

Freshwater; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species has been fished intensively at various locations within its range, with a dramatic decline in local stocks noted as a result. In Lake Nicaragua (Nicaragua, Central America) Thorson noted large catches of largetooth sawfish during his preliminary visits to Granada in 1963 (T.B. Thorson pers. comm). However, intense fishing efforts for sawfish and the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas in the lake led to rapid decline of stocks of both species (Thorson 1974, 1976, 1980, 1982a, 1987). Taniuchi (1992) did not see any sawfish or bull sharks in the lake during his survey of Central American freshwater elasmobranchs. He noted that during the entire previous season only one of each species had been reported in the fishery. Tanaka (1994) did observe a few specimens of the largetooth sawfish in his studies of Lake Nicaragua. The fisheries for largetooth sawfish in Lake Nicaragua have been characterized by continued effort long after local stocks were practically non-existent. Products recovered from this species are typical of those for other species of sawfishes and include dried saws for curios (primary product), meat for human consumption, fins and to a lesser degree, hides for leather. It is unknown if useable fins are or were recovered from largetooth sawfish for the shark fin trade. Since stocks of the largetooth sawfish in Central America were fished down well before the current surge in interest in shark fins in the mid-1980s, the impact of the sharkfin trade on this species is uncertain but could be important in limiting recovery of the species. The occurrence of this species off the Brazilian coast is historically described as a vast coastal area ranging from the northern to southeastern coast, but recent reports indicate a distribution restricted to the northern coast (Menni and Stehmann 2000). It has been extirpated from the southeastern Brazilian coast and is in decline in other regions as a result of artisanal and commercial fishing. Habitat modifications probably also affect this species, especially mangrove forest reduction. According to FAO data (Food and Agricultural Organization) the contribution of sawfish to the total percentage of sharks and rays landed in the north Brazilian region is large (Bonfil 1994). P. perotteti is routinely fished in north Brazil, having its meat, fins and saws traded (Charvet-Almeida 2002). Local fishermen mention a local population declining over the past 15 years (Charvet-Almeida 1999). Both P. pectinata and P. perotteti are considered threatened species in Brazil (Rosa and Menezes 1996).

Major Threat(s):

This species has been fished intensively at various locations within its range, with a dramatic decline in local stocks noted as a result. In Lake Nicaragua (Nicaragua, Central America) Thorson noted large catches of largetooth sawfish during his preliminary visits to Granada in 1963 (T.B. Thorson pers. comm). However, intense fishing efforts for sawfish and the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas in the lake led to rapid decline of stocks of both species (Thorson 1974, 1976, 1980, 1982a, 1987). Taniuchi (1992) did not see any sawfish or bull sharks in the lake during his survey of Central American freshwater elasmobranchs. He noted that during the entire previous season only one of each species had been reported in the fishery. Tanaka (1994) did observe a few specimens of the largetooth sawfish in his studies of Lake Nicaragua. The fisheries for largetooth sawfish in Lake Nicaragua have been characterized by continued effort long after local stocks were practically non-existent. Products recovered from this species are typical of those for other species of sawfishes and include dried saws for curios (primary product), meat for human consumption, fins and to a lesser degree, hides for leather. It is unknown if useable fins are or were recovered from largetooth sawfish for the shark fin trade. Since stocks of the largetooth sawfish in Central America were fished down well before the current surge in interest in shark fins in the mid-1980s, the impact of the sharkfin trade on this species is uncertain but could be important in limiting recovery of the species.

The occurrence of this species off the Brazilian coast is historically described as a vast coastal area ranging from the northern to southeastern coast, but recent reports indicate a distribution restricted to the northern coast (Menni and Stehmann 2000). It has been extirpated from the southeastern Brazilian coast and is in decline in other regions as a result of artisanal and commercial fishing. Habitat modifications probably also affect this species, especially mangrove forest reduction. According to FAO data (Food and Agricultural Organization) the contribution of sawfish to the total percentage of sharks and rays landed in the north Brazilian region is large (Bonfil 1994). P. perotteti is routinely fished in north Brazil, having its meat, fins and saws traded (Charvet-Almeida 2002). Local fishermen mention a local population declining over the past 15 years (Charvet-Almeida 1999). Both P. pectinata and P. perotteti are considered threatened species in Brazil (Rosa and Menezes 1996).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	The Nicaraguan government imposed a temporary moratorium on targeted fishing for sawfish in Lake Nicaragua in the early 1980s (Thorson 1982), after the population collapsed following intensive fishing in the 1970s. The aim was to allow the population to recover, but no such recovery has occurred (McDavitt 2002a). Protection was bolstered in 2006 with a Nicaraguan ban on fishing for sawfish, but only in Lake Nicaragua. In the USA P. perotteti is protected by several states (Florida, Louisiana), but not Federally. The smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata is on the US Endangered Species List (ESA) (since 2003). This remnant population of P. pectinata in the Gulf of Mexico is considered to have survived because of the benefits of large marine and coastal protected areas, including the establishment of the Everglades National Park in 1947, and as a result of a number of conservation measures during the 1990s, primarily species protection in Florida and Louisiana and a ban on all forms of entangling fishing nets in Florida State waters (Simpfendorfer 2002). The decline in this population may have ceased as a result of these measures. The state of Texas prohibited catch of smalltooth sawfish in concert with the ESA listing and has proposed similar action for largetooth sawfish based on similarity of appearance. In January 2006, eBay announced it would ban the sale of smalltooth sawfish parts and products on their on-line auction site. This measure will require vigilant monitoring within eBay and with the help of outside experts. A similar ban on the largetooth sawfish has not been established to date. The Brazilian Environment Ministry edited a federal law (MMA-IN05/2004) that has also considered it a threatened species and indicated that it should be protected. Enforcement of this protection has been a great challenge. Further appropriate protection measures and fisheries controls are required to prevent this species from being extirpated where populations still persist. It is recommended that this species is included in CITES Appendix I.

Conservation Actions:

The Nicaraguan government imposed a temporary moratorium on targeted fishing for sawfish in Lake Nicaragua in the early 1980s (Thorson 1982), after the population collapsed following intensive fishing in the 1970s. The aim was to allow the population to recover, but no such recovery has occurred (McDavitt 2002a). Protection was bolstered in 2006 with a Nicaraguan ban on fishing for sawfish, but only in Lake Nicaragua.

In the USA P. perotteti is protected by several states (Florida, Louisiana), but not Federally. The smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata is on the US Endangered Species List (ESA) (since 2003). This remnant population of P. pectinata in the Gulf of Mexico is considered to have survived because of the benefits of large marine and coastal protected areas, including the establishment of the Everglades National Park in 1947, and as a result of a number of conservation measures during the 1990s, primarily species protection in Florida and Louisiana and a ban on all forms of entangling fishing nets in Florida State waters (Simpfendorfer 2002). The decline in this population may have ceased as a result of these measures. The state of Texas prohibited catch of smalltooth sawfish in concert with the ESA listing and has proposed similar action for largetooth sawfish based on similarity of appearance.

In January 2006, eBay announced it would ban the sale of smalltooth sawfish parts and products on their on-line auction site. This measure will require vigilant monitoring within eBay and with the help of outside experts. A similar ban on the largetooth sawfish has not been established to date.

The Brazilian Environment Ministry edited a federal law (MMA-IN05/2004) that has also considered it a threatened species and indicated that it should be protected. Enforcement of this protection has been a great challenge.

Further appropriate protection measures and fisheries controls are required to prevent this species from being extirpated where populations still persist.

It is recommended that this species is included in CITES Appendix I.

Citation:	Charvet-Almeida, P., Faria, V., Furtado, M., Cook, S.F., Compagno L.J.V. & Oetinger, M.I. 2007. Pristis perotteti. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 14 March 2010.
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