The largetooth sawfish is a species of ray found in tropical waters around the world. Most identifiable by its protruding rostrum lined with sharp teeth all around, the species is an iconic mega-fish. It is also one of the most endangered fish species in the world. With so few of these rays remaining in the wild is it difficult to find and track individual fish for research. This leaves us to find creative alternate methods to study them. One of those is recovering information about their movements from chemistry stored in the teeth of their rostrum. 

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The Current Archives Lab is the first research group to recover detailed chemical and structural records from the rostral teeth of these rays. Chemistry stored in these teeth allow us to uncover detailed information about when and where individual fish moved during their life, when they moved from salt water to freshwater, as well as the habitats they encountered during their life. We are also using the physical structures inside these teeth to better understand their age and growth patterns as well. We only use teeth from rostra that have been archived in museums or other scientific collections, we never take teeth from living fish. This information is important so that we can target conservation efforts to the right locations and times to best conserve this amazing species.