The internet seems to be full of different ways to differentiate between Spotted and Florida Gars, such as snout length, markings and body shape, but in reality these ways are all false or too nuanced to definitively ID them.
In truth, there are not really any true Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) in the hobby.
They're a protected species, not farmed for the trade and are restricted from export outside the US.
Why do I see places sell Spotted Gar?
You may often see your local aquatic retailer selling some "Spotted Gar", but these are infact just Florida Gars (Lepisosteus platyrhincus).
L. platyrhincus seems to of picked up the trade name Spotted Gar, due to having those distinct spots. This causes a lot of confusion as Spotted Gar is the common name for L. oculatus.
Your retailer will most likely be dealing through a fish farm or wholesaler which deals with a farm. True Spotted Gar are not farmed.
If you wanted to keep a true Spotted Gar, you would have to make sure you're in the US and you source a wild one. Toyin at Rehoboth Aquatics had a stunning one in stock recently.
Wild caught (L. oculatus) Spotted Gar - Image credit Rehoboth Aquatics
How come the ones at my shop listed as Florida and the ones as Spotted look different? Could that mean it is a true Spotted Gar?
Florida Gar come in all sorts of markings (including like that of the Spotted Gar above), be it by regional variation or selective breeding, so you're likely just seeing the same species of (Florida) Gar from 2 different bloodlines.
You will even get transitional markings from juvenile to adulthood. They often begin with a stripe which slowly transforms into large spots and then smaller more random spots, but the shape and size of the spots, and time it takes for this to transition varies with each bloodline, sometimes individual.
Farmed Gar often have stubbier snouts which becomes noticeable the larger they get. Not all Florida Gar in the trade are farmed, so they wont all be a good example of this, but if your Gar does have that stubbier farm snout, right away you know it's not a Spotted Gar.
All the sets of markings/colouration found in true Spotted Gar is also seen in Florida Gar, so going by markings alone to identify them is nigh on impossible.
How do you tell them apart then?
The only definitive way to ID your Florida or Spotted Gar is to check under its throat.
Spotted Gar (L. oculatus) will have bony ganoid plates/scales on the isthmus area.
Florida Gar (L. platyrhincus) will not.
Spotted Gar (above, left) Florida Gar (above, right)
I hope this thread has been helpful and cleared up some things for you guys.
Big thank you to Gar scientist and enthusiast Dr. Solomon David and MFK member King-eL
Further reading for UK members.
In the UK, there was a ban on all Gars (beside Florida and Cuban) which is really being cracked down on. Some retailers were still selling Gar labled as "Spotted".
This caught the attention of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) who seized a few specimens from them for sampling.
If the results came back as Spotted Gar (L. oculatus), the rest of those Gar being sold were to be destroyed.
All of the results from all those retailers had came back as Florida Gar (L. platyrhincus)
Our waters can get as low as 6°C during Winter, and true Spotted Gar will happily breed in that. People in their native regions might even be lucky to notice fry swimming about during the ice melt.
Florida Gar don't do too well under 20°C. In their native regions, the water during Winter doesn't get much lower than 22-23°C.
This is why despite being so similar in appearance and size, that Spotted Gar is banned here and Florida is not.
In truth, there are not really any true Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) in the hobby.
They're a protected species, not farmed for the trade and are restricted from export outside the US.
Why do I see places sell Spotted Gar?
You may often see your local aquatic retailer selling some "Spotted Gar", but these are infact just Florida Gars (Lepisosteus platyrhincus).
L. platyrhincus seems to of picked up the trade name Spotted Gar, due to having those distinct spots. This causes a lot of confusion as Spotted Gar is the common name for L. oculatus.
Your retailer will most likely be dealing through a fish farm or wholesaler which deals with a farm. True Spotted Gar are not farmed.
If you wanted to keep a true Spotted Gar, you would have to make sure you're in the US and you source a wild one. Toyin at Rehoboth Aquatics had a stunning one in stock recently.
Wild caught (L. oculatus) Spotted Gar - Image credit Rehoboth Aquatics
How come the ones at my shop listed as Florida and the ones as Spotted look different? Could that mean it is a true Spotted Gar?
Florida Gar come in all sorts of markings (including like that of the Spotted Gar above), be it by regional variation or selective breeding, so you're likely just seeing the same species of (Florida) Gar from 2 different bloodlines.
You will even get transitional markings from juvenile to adulthood. They often begin with a stripe which slowly transforms into large spots and then smaller more random spots, but the shape and size of the spots, and time it takes for this to transition varies with each bloodline, sometimes individual.
Farmed Gar often have stubbier snouts which becomes noticeable the larger they get. Not all Florida Gar in the trade are farmed, so they wont all be a good example of this, but if your Gar does have that stubbier farm snout, right away you know it's not a Spotted Gar.
All the sets of markings/colouration found in true Spotted Gar is also seen in Florida Gar, so going by markings alone to identify them is nigh on impossible.
How do you tell them apart then?
The only definitive way to ID your Florida or Spotted Gar is to check under its throat.
Spotted Gar (L. oculatus) will have bony ganoid plates/scales on the isthmus area.
Florida Gar (L. platyrhincus) will not.
Spotted Gar (above, left) Florida Gar (above, right)
I hope this thread has been helpful and cleared up some things for you guys.
Big thank you to Gar scientist and enthusiast Dr. Solomon David and MFK member King-eL
Further reading for UK members.
In the UK, there was a ban on all Gars (beside Florida and Cuban) which is really being cracked down on. Some retailers were still selling Gar labled as "Spotted".
This caught the attention of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) who seized a few specimens from them for sampling.
If the results came back as Spotted Gar (L. oculatus), the rest of those Gar being sold were to be destroyed.
All of the results from all those retailers had came back as Florida Gar (L. platyrhincus)
Our waters can get as low as 6°C during Winter, and true Spotted Gar will happily breed in that. People in their native regions might even be lucky to notice fry swimming about during the ice melt.
Florida Gar don't do too well under 20°C. In their native regions, the water during Winter doesn't get much lower than 22-23°C.
This is why despite being so similar in appearance and size, that Spotted Gar is banned here and Florida is not.
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