[1] The smalltooth sawfish is found in tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

[4][11][note 1] For many years, rarity of seeing a sawfish in the wild prevented scientists from collecting conclusive evidence about the use of their distinctive rostrum.

There are no other highly studied marine animals with similar rostral characteristics that have shown that the rostrum is used for both of these feeding techniques.

Utilizing their saw as an extended sensing device, sawfish are able to "view" their entire surroundings by maintaining a position low to the sea floor.

[16] Sawfish were thought to primarily prey upon sand dwelling crustaceans and mollusks, similar to other ray species or the closely related group of guitarfishes,[17] by using their unique anatomical structure as a tool for digging and grubbing about in sand or mud,[18] However, molecular evidence from prey item identification of DNA in the feces of southwest Florida smalltooth sawfish using a broad 18S rRNA molecular marker indicated the majority of their diet (71% of animal DNA sequences) consists of fish.

[19] The same study found mollusks and crustaceans were a minority (14% of animal DNA sequences) and nearly all were identified as Harpacticoida copepods,[19] making it an unlikely prey item due to its small size and may represent 'secondary predation', a phenomenon where the DNA of an organism consumed by a prey item is detected in molecular gut or fecal analyses of a predator.

[22] Vertebrate biologist Barbara Wueringer, of the University of Queensland, demonstrated that sawfish use their extended rostrum to detect and manipulate prey.

[14] When the sawfish came across scraps of fish resting on the bottom of the tank, it used its rostrum to pin the "prey" down as it swam over and engulfed it.

When food was identified as it fell through the water, the sawfish would approach its "prey" from the side and swiftly strike to impale the victim with the teeth of its saw.

[27] There is sexual dimorphism in the teeth of smalltooth sawfish, with males presenting a higher mean value for both left and right rostral tooth counts.

[27] Once a mate has been selected, several copulations occur during which the male inserts his claspers, which are paired intromittent organs, into the female's vagina.

The research team speculates that since smalltooth sawfish are so rare, females might sometimes fail to find a male during the mating season, inducing the parthenogenetic process.

[27] Smalltooth sawfish are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation because of their propensity for entanglement in nets, their restricted habitat, and low rate of population growth.

[1] The Pristis pectinata species is critically endangered mainly because of the fishing pressure business which feeds into the shark-fin industry.

[13] In the United States it once occurred from Texas to New York (northern range as summer visitors), but today it is essentially limited to Florida.

[1] Small numbers are maintained in public aquariums in North America with studbooks listing 12 individuals (5 males, 7 females) in 2014.

[33] In early 2024, state and federal wildlife agencies in Florida, USA, became aware of an "unusual mortality event" from an unknown cause.