Sawfish are a very distinctive group of elasmobranchs (the sharks and rays) that inhabit nearshore waters in tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate regions of the world. They are characterized by their saw - a long rostrum studded on either side by pointed teeth. Sawfish belong to the family Pristidae, within the order Pristiformes. They are sometimes confused with sawsharks (Order Pristiophoriformes) that also have a saw (sawfish are a species of ray and so have their gill opening on their under side, while sawsharks are sharks and have gill opening on the side of their body). There are seven recognised species of sawfish, two of which inhabit US waters - the smalltooth sawfish (New York to Brasil) and the largetooth sawfish (Texas to Brasil).

The body of a sawfish is flattened as the they spend much of their time lying on the sea-floor. They are able to breath while lying on the bottom by drawing water to their gills through spiracles (large holes located just behind each eye).