Shortnose gar

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Shortnose gar

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Clade: Ginglymodi
Order: Lepisosteiformes
Family: Lepisosteidae
Genus: Lepisosteus
Species:
L. platostomus
Binomial name
Lepisosteus platostomus
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Cylindrosteus platostomus (Rafinesque, 1820)
  • Lepisosteus albus Rafinesque, 1820
  • Cylindrosteus rafinesquii Duméril, 1870
  • Cylindrosteus scabriceps Fowler, 1911

The shortnose gar (Lepisosteus platostomus) is a primitive freshwater fish of the family

ganoid scales
.

The shortnose gar is an ambush predator, feeding mostly on fish, but also consuming crustaceans, insects, and other invertebrates. Breeding takes place in spring when females, often accompanied by several males, attach their eggs to clumps of submerged vegetation. The eggs, which are toxic to man, hatch after a week or so. After consuming their yolk sac, the young fish feed on insect larvae and small crustaceans, maturing at an age of about three years.

Description

Lepisosteus platostomus

Shortnose gar have a prehistoric-looking appearance. Like many other "lie-in-wait" predators, they have an elongated, torpedo-like body with an elongated head containing one row of sharp,

caudal fin. Shortnose gar vary in color, changing from brown/olive green on the dorsal surface to yellow on the sides and white on the underbelly. Shortnose gar can be discerned from other gar species in that they lack the upper jaw of the alligator gar, the long snout of the longnose gar, and the markings of the spotted gar.[5] The shortnose gar reaches up to 88 cm (35 in), but a more common length is 62.5 cm (24.6 in).[6]

Habitat

Shortnose gar generally inhabit calm waters in large rivers and their backwaters, as well as

gas bladder. Gar gas bladders have the ability to function like a lung to extract and use oxygen from swallowed air in addition to regulating buoyancy.[5]

Reproduction and lifecycle

Shortnose gar typically spawn in the spring during April, May, and June, when water temperatures are between 16 and 21 °C (61 and 70 °F). Often accompanied by more than one male, females scatter large, yellowish-green eggs in quiet, shallow water among submerged vegetation or other underwater structures. A sticky

crustaceans. Young gar typically lead solitary lives and sexual maturity is achieved around three years of age when the gar reaches about 15 in (380 mm) in length.[5]

Diet and habits

Shortnose gar are efficient, fierce, ambush predators. They feed mainly on fish, but they are very opportunistic and also eat

periodical cicadas.[8]

Distribution

Shortnose gar today are only located in North America. Located mainly in the central United States, they occupy much of the

Gulf Coast from Louisiana and Alabama to parts of Texas in the south.[6]

Importance to humans

Shortnose gar help maintain ecosystem equilibrium by feeding on minnows that are destructive to game fish and other fish populations. They are popular aquarium fish, and are frequently found in public aquariums across the country.

Conservation status

With very few natural predators able to cope with a gar's thick ganoid scale armor, shortnose gar are generally plentiful. One exception is in Montana, where they are considered a fish of special concern due to restricted distribution and limited population sizes.[5] In Ohio, they are an endangered species because of limited range (primarily the Ohio River and lower Scioto and Great Miami Rivers).

Etymology of name

In Greek, Lepisosteus translates to "bony scale", and platostomus translates to "broad mouth".[4]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202411A18233754.en
    . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Froese, R.; Pauly, D. (2017). "Lepisosteidae". FishBase version (02/2017). Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  3. PMID 25543675
    .
  4. ^ a b [1], Short-nosed Gar - zen gyotaku.
  5. ^ a b c d e Shortnose Gar - Montana Field Guide.
  6. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2011). "Lepisosteus platostomus" in FishBase. April 2011 version.
  7. ^ a b c [2], Short-nosed Gar - Warner Nature Center.
  8. ^ [3], American Midland Naturalist Journal: Shortnose Gar - Territorial Defense of Profitable Pool Positions.
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