Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
July 16, 1800
Primary Source Reference:
Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) 16 July 1800
Additional Source Text:
"Was caught at Cape May [N.J.] the 6th inst. It had run into an inlet, and having lost its way out, got into shoal water. A number of the inhabitants of the shores collected together, and attacked it with harpoons &c. -- they with some difficulty, and much sport, after a long conflict, secured it. This curious fish is now preserved in Peale's Museum. It measures 13 feet in length, the girt is 5 feet 5 inches, and the length of the beak 3 feet."
Notes:
Sawfishes, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. There are five living species of sawfish in two genera, two of which inhabit the Atlantic, one of which, the smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) is pictured here.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Peale's Common Name:
Saw-fish
Current Common Name:
Smalltooth sawfish
Current Scientific Name
Pristis pectinata
