A sawfish has been captured off the coast of Florida 20 years after it was listed as endangered, according to research shared by the Florida Museum. FOX13
Now that the sawfish is tagged, researchers can track its movements for the next 10 years as part of a multi-agency effort to monitor their population. The research team also noticed mating scars on its fins and sides – the males bite the fins of their female partners before mating, researchers said. Since it takes sawfish several years to reach the age they can reproduce, these scars are a positive sign that the species is on the rebound, the report said.
"What’s remarkable to me is that they’re creeping back into exactly the previous habitats and range from which they’ve been extirpated," Naylor said. "It’s as if they have a deeply embedded knowledge of where to go." Historically, smalltooth sawfish were most commonly found near Florida but could have been found in Texas and as far north as North Carolina. Now, though, if a smalltooth sawfish is found, it's usually only off the coast of Florida, researchers said.
The smalltooth sawfish, often confused for other species of sawfish, is known for its long, flat snout edged with teeth that looks like a saw, according to theThe smalltooth sawfish population has declined by over 90% throughout the 20th century. Their habitat is mostly threatened by wide scale coastal development, which reduced the number of mangrove forests. Sawfish use this ecosystem as nurseries.
"I can’t think of a better way for a group of young people studying environmental and conservation biology to learn about this critically endangered and incredibly spectacular animal," Grubbs said. "So much of the news about Earth’s climate and environment is doom and gloom, but this is a potent reminder that if you leave things alone, many species are capable of recovery."
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