Longcomb sawfish
The longcomb sawfish is native to tropical and subtropical waters in the western and central Indo-Pacific. Historically its distribution covered almost and it ranged from South Africa, north to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, east to the South China Sea, through Southeast Asia to Australia. In Australia, it ranged from Shark Bay, along the northern part of the country, and south to Jervis Bay on the eastern coast. Today it has disappeared from much of its historical range. It can live in colder waters than its relatives, as also evident by the range in Australia where it occurs further south than the other species of sawfish.
Smalltooth sawfish
For many years, rarity of seeing a sawfish in the wild prevented scientists from collecting conclusive evidence about the use of their distinctive rostrum. This led them to falsely assume that the sawfish, like many other marine vertebrates with a "beak," or an elongated rostrum, follow the rule that the appendage is used to either sense prey or capture prey, but never both. 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. Recent studies have demonstrated, however, that the sawfish utilize their rostrum to both sense and manipulate prey.