Overview
Their upper body is brown to olive, and they have silver-white sides. Head, body, and fins have olive-brown to black spots that help camouflage the fish. A broad, dark stripe is on the sides of immature fish. Their long, snout-like mouth is lined with strong, sharp teeth, and their body is covered with thick, ganoid (diamond-shaped) scales. Spotted gar may be distinguished from other Texas gar species by the dark roundish spots on the top of the head, the pectoral fins and on the pelvic fins.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Lepisosteidae
- Genus
- Lepisosteus
- Species
- oculatus
Habitat
Spotted gar prefer clear, quiet, vegetated waters of streams, swamps and lakes. They sometimes enter brackish waters along the Gulf Coast.
Diet
Fry feed primarily on insect larvae and tiny crustaceans, but fish appear on the diet of young gar very early. Prey is usually swallowed headfirst.
Behavior
Gar move slowly unless trying to catch food, which it grabs in its jaws in a quick sideways lunge. They often bask near the water's surface on warm days. Males mature in two to three years. Females mature when three to four years old. They spawn in shallow water with low flow and heavy vegetation. Several males court a single larger female at the same time. Spawning season is from April to May. The number of eggs varies greatly, but up to about 20,000 green, adhesive eggs are attached to aquatic plants. Fry hatch after 10 to 14 days. Young gar have specialized pads on their upper jaws that allow them to adhere to vegetation.
Fishing
Because of the competition and because many people think gar are difficult to clean, gar are sometimes called a trash fish. This term may not be warranted when you consider that spotted gar, like all native species, have an important role to play in their ecosystem.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.