sawfish

Everyday

1. A sawfish is a large ray, a kind of flat fish related to sharks, with a long flat snout edged with sharp teeth like a saw. tree →
2. It uses its saw to find, stun and slash small fish and to dig for food in mud. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons the sawfish is an example of an animal adapted to its habitat: its saw can sense the tiny electric signals of prey. It lives in warm coastal waters and rivers, for example in northern Australia. It is critically endangered, often caught by accident in fishing nets. Phrases: smalltooth sawfish, largetooth sawfish.

Examples

• The sawfish swung its long saw through a shoal of little fish. tree →
• A sawfish can grow longer than a car. tree →
• The sawfish is a kind of ray, not a shark. tree →
• Sawfish live in warm seas and some even swim up rivers. tree →
• Sawfish are endangered because their saws get tangled in nets. tree →
• At the aquarium we watched a sawfish glide along the bottom. tree →
• The teeth on a sawfish's snout are really special scales. tree →

Note

Plural usually sawfish (like «fish»). Sawfish (a ray, gills underneath, saw with no whiskers) are different from sawsharks (smaller sharks with gills on the sides and whiskers on the saw).