Largest recorded smalltooth sawfish washes up dead in Florida
The largest sawfish ever measured by scientists was found dead in the Florida Keys last week. The 16-foot-long (4.9 meters) sharp-snouted fish was a mature female with eggs the size of softballs found in her reproductive tract. Scientists are now studying her carcass to determine her age and to learn more about her reproductive past. Sawfishes are a kind of ray fish known for their flat, chainsaw-like snouts.
The record-breaking sawfish was one of two dead sawfish that washed ashore in the Keys last week, one near Cudjoe Key and the other near Marvin Key. They were found far enough apart that the timing of their deaths is most likely coincidental, Poulakis told Live Science. The two sawfish had no injuries or other indications of why they had died, Gregg Poulakis, a fish biologist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said.
Poulakis and other collaborators within the Commission and at other Florida research agencies regularly catch,tag and release sawfish along the coast. They also get about 20 to 30 reported sightings a month from boaters and fishers. Five or six times a year, a dead sawfish washes ashore. Even carcasses that have partially decomposed are scientifically useful, Poulakis said.
https://www.livescience.com/longest-sawfish-washes-up-dead-florida.html
