Alligator gar
| Alligator gar | |
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| Species: | A. spatula
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| Binomial name | |
| Atractosteus spatula (Lacépède, 1803)
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Lepisosteus spatula Lacépède, 1803 | |
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. It is these remarkably alligator-like teeth which gives 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 were once used by Native Americans for jewelry.
Also unlike other gars, the alligator gar is capable of breathing air and can survive up to two hours above water.
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.
Location
Alligator gar are found in the southeastern United States: Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina , Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, Paris Illinois in Twin Lakes. 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-foot 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.
Behavior
Feeding
The alligator gar is an aggressive, solitary fish that lives in fresh water bodies in the southeastern U.S. It is carnivorous and has attacked humans on several occasions. Alligator Gar feeds by lurking amongst reeds and other underwater plant life, waiting for food to pass by. It has even been witnessed attacking a five foot alligator before devouring it. [1]
Though subsisting mostly on fish, the alligator gar will also eat waterfowl.
Constantine Rafinesque wrote of another man witnessing an alligator gar eating an alligator.[1]
Alligator gar have also been known to attack humans in some very rare cases.[2]. Capt Kirk Kirkland seems to be one of the most informed north Americans on this subject, he runs a fishing charter company to catch alligator gar. The citation for fatal attacks on a human seems not to be valid. While sources state that alligator gar have bitten and wounded humans seems to only be while fishing for the animal.
Breeding
Though the alligator gar prefers slow-moving waters, it appears to need running water in order to spawn. Spawning occurs in May-Aug, when the fish deposit their eggs in shallow water. The female swims up stream with an escort of 2 or more males.
Taxonomic history
Until relatively recently all gars have generally been classified in the genus Lepisosteus Lacepède, 1803. The alligator gar had been given the name Atractosteus adamantinus by the eccentric Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz in 1818, and for a long time Atractosteus was simply viewed as a junior synonym of Lepisosteus. E. O. Wiley resurrected this genus in 1976, in his work The phylogeny and biogeography of fossil and Recent gars.
Based on Wiley's work, after 1976 the gars were officially split into Lepisosteus and Atractosteus, and ever since then zoos, aquarium books, anglers, and so on have been gradually catching up with the proper terminology.
Human usage
Sport fish
Oklahoma,Texas,Arkansas and Louisiana allow regulated sport fishing of the alligator gar.
The fish is popular amongst bowfishers because of its size and tendency to fight. An interesting anatomical feature of this fish is that its buoyancy bladder is directly connected to its throat, giving it the ability to draw in air from above the water. For this reason, alligator gar are often found near the surface of a body of water, making them an easy target for bowfishers.
Food source
Alligator gar aren't widely eaten by humans, though in some southern areas, particularly in Texas and Louisiana, they are served in restaurants and considered a viable food source.
References
- ^ Constantine Rafinesque, Ichthyologia Ohiensis, Natural History of the Fishes Inhabiting the River Ohio and Its Tributary Streams, W. G. Hunt, Lexington, Kentucky, 1820. Reprinted by Arno Press, New York, 1970.
- ^ Hendershott, A.J.; Helfrich, Phil (September 2007), "Encore!", Missouri Conservationist, vol. 68, no. 9, Jefferson City, MO: Missouri Department of Conservation, pp. 19–23, ISSN 0026-6515
- "Lepisosteus spatula". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 30 January.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Lepisosteus spatula". FishBase. October 2005 version.
- Lacepède, B. G. E. 1803, Histoire naturelle des poissons; Hist. Nat. Poiss. i-lxviii + 1-803 + index
- Rafinesque, C. S., 1820, Ichthyologia Ohiensis [Part 8]. Western Rev. Misc. Mag. 165-173.
- E. O. Wiley, 1976. The phylogeny and biogeography of fossil and Recent gars (Actinopterygii: Lepisosteidae). Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas Misc. Publ. 64:1-111.
- Alligator Gar at the University of Evansville
- Alligator Gar at Texas Parks and Wildlife