Categories
All Fresh Water Fish

Alligator gar


Warning: Zend OPcache API is restricted by "restrict_api" configuration directive in /srv/users/serverpilot/apps/fishlookup/public/wp-content/plugins/tubepress/vendor/tedivm/stash/src/Stash/Driver/FileSystem.php on line 253

Stocking Fish Tips: Make sure that any new fish you are planning to add to your tank will be compatible with the current inhabitants. You need to look at temperament, water parameters and tank size requirements. For instance, please don’t put a common pleco in anything under 55 gallons.
Contents of this page belong to www.fishlookup.com

The alligator gar, Atractosteus spatula, is a primitive ray-finned fish. Its also referred to as the gator gar. Unlike other gars, the mature alligator gar possesses a dual row of large teeth in the upper jaw. These remarkably alligator-like teeth, along with its snout, give it its name. The dorsal surface of the alligator gar is a brown or olive-color, while the ventral surface tends to be a lighter color. Their scales are diamond-shaped and interlocking (ganoid) and are sometimes used by Native Americans for jewelry.

The alligator gar is the largest species of gar and is the largest exclusively freshwater fish in North America. It can be as long as eight to twelve feet and often weighs at least 100 pounds at maturity. The current world record alligator gar weighed 279 pounds and was caught in the Rio Grande River in 1951. Even larger alligator gars — over 300 pounds — have been caught by trotliners.

Alligator gar are found in the southeastern United States: Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and in Paris, Illinois in the Twin Lakes area. They have also been known occasionally to come as far north as central Kansas, off the Republican River and up into Clarks Creek. They inhabit sluggish pools and backwaters or large rivers, bayous, and lakes. They are rarely found in brackish or saltwater, but are more adaptable to the latter than are other gars. In February 2007, a 1.5-meter alligator gar was found roaming far in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia, when the city was hit by a major flood (see External Links below). In January 2008, a 3-kg gator gar was found by fishermen in Bera, Pahang (East Coast State of Malaysia), when it was caught entangled in a fishing net.

The alligator gar is an aggressive, solitary fish that lives in fresh water bodies in the southeastern U.S. It is carnivorous. However, it is not ordinarily aggressive towards humans. Alligator Gar feeds by lurking amongst reeds and other underwater plant life, waiting for food to pass by. Though subsisting mostly on fish, the alligator gar will also eat waterfowl.

YouTube responded with an error: The request cannot be completed because you have exceeded your <a href="/youtube/v3/getting-started#quota">quota</a>.