A slim torpedo-shaped predator with a long beak-like snout full of needle teeth. Common but often overlooked — gars represent ancient lineage stretching back 100+ million years.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The longnose gar, also known as longnose garpike or billy gar, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. The genus may have been present in North America for about 100 million years. References are made to gars being a primitive group of bony fish because they have retained some primitive features, such as a spiral valve intestine, but they are not primitive in the sense of not being fully developed.
Source: Wikipedia — Longnose gar Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Long torpedo-shaped fish with long narrow snout; olive-brown above, white below.
Similar species. Other gar species (different sizes or ranges).
Voice. Silent.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Fish (primary), crustaceans.
Behavior. Long primitive predator. Body armored with interlocking ganoid scales. Can breathe air through modified swim bladder.
§ Range
Eastern and central US, Mexico
§ Habitat
Lakes, rivers, brackish estuaries
§ Threats
River channelization, dam construction, pollution, historic killing as "trash fish."
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the longnose gar is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support natural river flow. Don't kill gar as trash fish. Maintain floodplain connections.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Longnose gar
- www.nwf.org — authoritative profile of Lepisosteus osseus
- IUCN Red List · taxon 62194
- iNaturalist · taxon 49581
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Lepisosteus osseus
§ Sources cited
- NOAA Fisheries
- American Fisheries Society
- IUCN Red List 2018
