Sawfish Teeth as GPS
Chemical Makeup of Teeth Could Lead to Better Protection for Critically Endangered Fish
The long, toothed nose - or rostrum - of sawfish may help a 幸运快三 scientist determine where the fish hang out; and protect the species.
“If we know where the fish are during specific times of the year or during certain points of their lives, we can protect their migration paths or set aside nursery grounds,” said Jensen Hegg, an analytical lab manager and postdoctoral researcher at the U of I’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences.
Sawfish are critically endangered, and largetooth sawfish live along the east coast of South America. At least some of the fish migrate between the freshwater of the Amazon Basin and the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean.
“But nobody understands why they’re moving the way they do or even their migration patterns,” Hegg said. “In the meantime, they have a nose like a hedge trimmer and have never met a fishing net they didn’t like.”
