Hi Tim,
That certainly helps. I'm glad you can provide an expert opinion on the tools that made that sawfish sword.
Given that my understanding of sawfish biology comes almost entirely from the web, I believe that the Bigtooth and Smalltooth sawfishes are the only species in the tropical Atlantic, both in the Carribean, the South American coast, and the African coast (they're coastal animals apparently).
Basically, your sword looks like it has too many teeth to be a smalltooth sawfish. That means that it didn't come from the Carribean or from west Africa.
There are 3-6 other sawfish in the world, presumably in the Indian and Pacific oceans. If the saw didn't come from one of the Atlantic species, it came from one of the Indopacific ones.
Personally, I'd recommend emailing that grad student. Speaking as a former biology grad student, most of us are quite happy when someone takes an interest in our particular branch of esoteric knowledge. He might be able to tell you what species of sawfish that came from, and where that species lives.
Fearn
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