Pacific Mexican records of sawfish are from south of its mouth. They were widespread in the western and central Indo-Pacific, ranging from South Africa to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, east and north to Korea and southern Japan, through Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Today sawfish have disappeared from much of their historical range. Habitat Sawfish are primarily found in coastal marine and estuarine brackish waters, but they are euryhaline (can adapt to various salinities) and also found in freshwater. The largetooth sawfish, alternatively called the freshwater sawfish, has the greatest affinity for freshwater. For example, it has been reported as far as up the Amazon River and in Lake Nicaragua, and its young spend the first years of their life in freshwater. In contrast, the smalltooth, green and dwarf sawfish typically avoid pure freshwater, but may occasionally move far up rivers, especially during periods when there is an increased salinity. There are reports of narrow sawfish seen far upriver, but these need confirmation and may involve misidentifications of other species of sawfish. Sawfish are mostly found in relatively shallow waters, typically at depths less than , and occasionally less than . Young prefer very shallow places and are often found in water only deep. Sawfish can occur offshore, but are rare deeper than . An unidentified sawfish (either a largetooth or smalltooth sawfish) was captured off Central America at a depth in excess of . The dwarf and largetooth sawfish are strictly warm-water species that generally live in waters that are and respectively. The green and smalltooth sawfish also occur in colder waters, in the latter down to , as illustrated by their (original) distributions that ranged further north and south of the strictly warm-water species. Sawfish are bottom-dwellers, but in captivity it has been noted that at least the largetooth and green sawfish readily take food from the water surface. Sawfish are mostly found in places with soft bottoms such as mud or sand, but may also occur over hard rocky bottoms or at coral reefs. They are often found in areas with seagrass or mangrove. Sawsharks are typically found much deeper, often at depths in excess of , and when shallower mostly in colder subtropical or temperate waters than sawfish. Behavior Breeding and life cycle Relatively little is known about the reproductive habits of the sawfish, but all species are ovoviviparous with the