To provide some actual numbers as opposed to the crazy numbers that usually get thrown about. Example the 12-14' that was mentioned. Clearly not suitable for an 80 gallon, yet no one here said it would be.
What is the biggest alligator gar?
- Thread starter Redrum187
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To say though that 42" is what they will reach in captivity is just plain wrong. Most people probably don't even keep them long enough in a tank for that number to even be remotely accurate, by then most are moved on to a pond or sadly enough released or killed
15 years so far, far longer than most other keepers.
My point is not to say that that is their max size, just that the max sizes thrown around are likely very overstated in regards to captive raised specimens.
My point is not to say that that is their max size, just that the max sizes thrown around are likely very overstated in regards to captive raised specimens.
As i know, the biggest captive raised i have seen is 7ft long. We are breeding alligator gar in Asia, not wild catch like in the states.
Are you sure this particular specimen was captive raised? Almost all alligator gars in the pet trade are farmed. They are aquacultured in the US, Mexico and throughout Asia. From a farms perspective it would likely make more sense to acquire adult fish for breeding then to try and raise them up from juveniles. Especially given the long maturity times for a species like this. Males approximately 6 years and females approximately 11.
How exactly are they breeding snow white alligator gars together to increase the outcome of snow white if they don't raise them to maturity? Unless they are catching snow white gator gars in the wild at full maturity (doubtful). If in 15 years you haven't seen a gator gar bigger then 42" you haven't seen enough gator gars
Perhaps I should have specified for the initial broodstock they are unlikely to raise those fish from babies. Why do this when you can secure adults and start seeing a return on your investment within a season or two. As opposed to a decade down the road.
As interesting anomalies show up, like platinum fish, they can very well be used in subsequent generations to try and selectively breed for certain characteristics.
Some oddball gars do make it to adulthood in the wild. The golden Floridas that show up in the trade are all wildcaught from what I remember. Though there were some "golden" gars bred in asia that have popped up for sale in the past, the colour apparently didn't stay into adulthood.
Aside from that, golden shortnose as well as platinum longnose have also turned up. I believe I also saw a video of a large platinum gator on a bowfishing site at one time.
Edit: I should probably specify that I'm not saying this is where the platinum genes are coming from, wild adult platinum/golden fish. More to refute your statement about catching them in the wild.
Captive rearing tends to also bring about these colour anomalies easier as you are working with a reduced genepool. So possible recessive traits are more likely to appear as the same genes will end up being found in a larger part of the population. This can sort of be seen in how the Mexico tropical gar farms are able to produce platinums as well as what I saw last labelled as a "sunburst" colour form.
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Again please read message carefully. Are they catching these platinum gars that they use for their breeding in the wild? No they are not, most of the platinum gator gar breeding is from selected platinum fish raised to adulthood now. Did I say that platinum gars don't occur naturally? No I did not, I simply stated that the gator gars used in snow white breeding are raised. I never argued that they do not use wold caught fish, I'm sure they do, I just argued that they don't only use wild caught fish, a lot of breeder anything now are no longer wild caught. I know some ray breeders in the US and Thailand now that are producing F3 offspring, a ray takes a few years to mature so they are in fact waiting a few years for maturity. It is not uncommon for breeders
