Scientific Name	Pristiophorus japonicus   Pronounce			by: Lab of Fish Ecol. and Evo., BRCAS
Author	Günther, 1870	Depth	0 - 500M
Chinese	日本鋸鯊	Poisonous Fish	No
Family_Chinese	鋸鯊科	Economic Fish	No
Family	F041　Pristiophoridae	Edible Fish	No	Chinese In Mainland China	日本鋸鯊
Max Length	163 cm	Aquarium Fish	No	Common Name	日本鋸鮫、劍沙
Distribution in World	North West Pacific Ocean	Distribution in Taiwan	Tung Sa IS.
Habitats	Deep Sea	Holotype Locality	Japan
Synonyms
Reference	Fishbase(2005)；中國軟骨魚誌（朱元鼎，1960）
Specimen List	ASIZP0057267.
Common Name	Halberd shark; Japanese saw shark; Japanese sawshark
Redlist Status	Not in IUCN Redlist
Characteristic	Trunk somewhat depressed but not greatly flattened and raylike. Rostrum extremely long, narrow, and narrowly tapering. Length of preoral snout 26-29% of total length. Bases of rostral barbels about 1.1-1.2 times closer to mouth than rostral tip. Distance from rostral barbels to nostrils about equal to distance from nostrils to 1st to 4th gill slits. Number of rostral teeth on each side of rostrum in front of barbells are about 15-26, and 9-17 behind them. Distance from mouth to nostrils 1.1-1.2 times the length of internarial space. Rows of upper jaw teeth 34-58. Dorsal and pectoral fin cover with dermal denticles in large individuals. First dorsal origin behind free rear tips of pectorals.
habitats	A common sawshark founded in the western North Pacific continental shelves and upper slopes. Ovoviviparous, litter size is about 12. Size of maximum is about 136 cm TL for females.
Distribution	Western North Pacific including Japan, the Koreas, northern China, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Utility	Caught with bottom trawls or bottom gill net. Utilized as fresh for human consumption. In Japan, its flesh is considered of high quality and used to prepare “kameboko” for human consumption.