Gar Quiz - the return - ID the fish
- Thread starter E_americanus
- Start date
I'm guessing it's a shortnose, the only thing throwing me off is the head shape but being yoy that might explain why it's head is more flattened. The snout shape, pattern and tail lean me towards shortnose. If it's a hybrid, then all bets are off.
thanks to everyone for their responses...some great guesses and good use of fish ID methods in coming to your conclusions (even if an answer was not correct, it still helps to consider all the details from the various species, etc).
the "answer" that we have for you is shortnose gar. i put that in quotes because we (Richard, Jeremy -friend of mine who has helped us with gar work in the past-, and myself) sampled this fish in an area where both shortnose and spotted gars were found side-by-side...there was also spawning activity there and YOY of both species.
now, the best method is..."if you hear hoof-beats behind you, don't think zebra", so we're going with shortnose gar. it has some unusual features in pattern and morphology, but we are finding that gars are highly variable based on region and population and environment BUT there is definitely the chance for hybridization from this area.
only time will tell, as we can only guess as to what a spotted x shortnose cross would look like (we used to joke - "a Florida!"). chances are, the shorties from this area just look different as juveniles, an adult that i was able to net looked like a standard shortnose.
this fish has grown quite a bit...starting off around 2.5" at the very end of May and currently pushing past 8". will get more pics in the near future...as well as another story as to why this particular fish is special.
onward to the next quiz...--
--solomon
PS - traits to look for:
- snout too long to be: gator, Cuban
- snout too short to be: longnose
- body too elongate to be a tropical of this same size (t-gar would have a stockier body); also caudal, dorsal, anal fins have spots...not striations one sees in Cuban & tropical (gator to some extent).
leaves: spotted, FL, shortnose
- we kind of have to go with pattern at this point...spotted and FL juveniles look pretty similar and have green spotting and usually an olive dorsal stripe...shortnose gars (especially by this size) do not have that pattern.
- posterior lateral markings show some of the dappled black lines we see on larger juvenile and some adult shortnoses.
- as some people noted, the snout of YOY shortnose gars is actually much longer than that of adults.
setting aside hybrid theories...answer would be shortnose gar.
the "answer" that we have for you is shortnose gar. i put that in quotes because we (Richard, Jeremy -friend of mine who has helped us with gar work in the past-, and myself) sampled this fish in an area where both shortnose and spotted gars were found side-by-side...there was also spawning activity there and YOY of both species.
now, the best method is..."if you hear hoof-beats behind you, don't think zebra", so we're going with shortnose gar. it has some unusual features in pattern and morphology, but we are finding that gars are highly variable based on region and population and environment BUT there is definitely the chance for hybridization from this area.
only time will tell, as we can only guess as to what a spotted x shortnose cross would look like (we used to joke - "a Florida!"). chances are, the shorties from this area just look different as juveniles, an adult that i was able to net looked like a standard shortnose.
this fish has grown quite a bit...starting off around 2.5" at the very end of May and currently pushing past 8". will get more pics in the near future...as well as another story as to why this particular fish is special.
onward to the next quiz...--
--solomon
PS - traits to look for:
- snout too long to be: gator, Cuban
- snout too short to be: longnose
- body too elongate to be a tropical of this same size (t-gar would have a stockier body); also caudal, dorsal, anal fins have spots...not striations one sees in Cuban & tropical (gator to some extent).
leaves: spotted, FL, shortnose
- we kind of have to go with pattern at this point...spotted and FL juveniles look pretty similar and have green spotting and usually an olive dorsal stripe...shortnose gars (especially by this size) do not have that pattern.
- posterior lateral markings show some of the dappled black lines we see on larger juvenile and some adult shortnoses.
- as some people noted, the snout of YOY shortnose gars is actually much longer than that of adults.
setting aside hybrid theories...answer would be shortnose gar.
here are some comparison photos:
juvenile spotted gar of similar size:
juvenile tropical gar of similar size:
juvenile FL gar of similar size:
juvenile shortnose of similar size but different pattern:
juvenile spotted gar of similar size:
juvenile tropical gar of similar size:
juvenile FL gar of similar size:
juvenile shortnose of similar size but different pattern:
after doing a bit of research i changed my choice in my head, but didn't get to changing my answer. but wasn't 100% sure. oh well, its a learning experience, for sure.
