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.
Sawfish
The two remaining species, the dwarf sawfish and narrow sawfish, are considerably smaller, but are still large fish with a maximum total length of at least and respectively. In the past it was often reported that the dwarf sawfish only reaches about , but this is now known to be incorrect.