Largest Smalltooth Sawfish Ever Measured Washes Up In Florida Keys

One of the largest smalltooth sawfish washed up in the Florida Keys recently, Gizmodo reported.

Reporters said two dead sawfish washed ashore over the last week, prompting biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to respond to the incident. After measuring the two creatures, one of them was an immature female measuring 12 feet and four inches, according to FWC Fish and Wildlife Institute.

The other one was a whopping 16-foot mature female weighing an estimated 800 to 1000 pounds, wildlife officials said.

"There was no obvious cause of death for either sawfish; however, valuable life history information was and will continue to be collected from both carcasses," the institute wrote in a Facebook post along with photos of the two sawfish.

This particular species of sawfish are only native to the waters around Florida. Known for their unique nose extensions, called rostrums, and the way their teeth are lined like a saw, all five species of sawfish are considered endangered and understudied.

FWC said sawfish biologists will be studying the creatures' vertebrae to determine their ages. "The DNA will be sequenced to compare to other sawfish that have been studied throughout Florida, and the length at maturity for females will be fine-tuned based on these data," the institute wrote.

Photo: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute