Why so different? Male and Female?
- Thread starter jim barry
- Start date
From my experience this is all true. Males nudge and chase the females and tend to be slimmer.
Floating mops would be my choice if you want to try. I imagine this would not get in the way of the rays. From what little i know, or have deducted from the few spawns that have occured by hobbyists its not far off from goldfish/koi breeding.... And they will use the physical displays in defineing heirachy as well as breeding in general. My groups of 3 longs, 2 floridas, 2 tropicals, and 1 cuban would often intermingle and "touch" alot but it was noticible in the springs our big trop was "chased" by all but our larger florida and longnose... Leading me to believe we had 3 females in our group. I regret not attempting to offer mats last spring to see if anyone would breed in our set-up. They also do not care for their young but the eggs are toxic so that would be my main concern with tankmates.
I read this in multiple places while researching the species, but I am new to gar and have no personal input. I believe it is mentioned it in a sticky here.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/gar-treasured-trash-fish/
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20090619131431AAngOHk
Second link claims they are not toxic to other fish. Probably not worth risking it with rays without a better source though.
Edit:
The better source is actually bottled in the second link--direct quote:
"Q: Are gar eggs truly poisonous or is this an old fishers' tale that has been repeated so often that it has the illusion of truth?
A: I spoke with Ken Ostrand, lead author of the second paper cited below. He confirmed what I suspected, that the toxin has yet to be identified. He said it is a protein of some kind, and speculated it may even be an algicide or fungicide. He also said it may just be an old wives' tale, which many people have suggested. Adding to the mix is the fact that of
the few studies that have focused on the subject (most of which offer just anecdotal reports), none describe the eggs as being toxic to other fishes. From an evolutionary perspective, this is significant, since fishes would be the most likely predators on gar eggs (not chickens, as some studies have used, and certainly not humans). In other words, why
would egg toxicity evolve if it offered no protection against the most likely predators? So it may just be chance that the eggs cause sickness in birds and mammals. Or, as Ostrand suggested, converting the eggs to pellet form to feed to chickens, or even force-feeding raw eggs to mice, might involve changes in the biochemistry of the eggs which could cause an unnatural response."
Burns, T.A., D.T. Stalling, and W. Goodger. 1981. Gar ichthyootoxin - its effect on crayfish, with notes on bluegill sunfish. The Southwestern
Naturalist 25(4):513-515.
Ostrand, K.G., M. Thies, D.D. Hall, and M. Carpenter. 1996. Gar
ichthyootoxin: its effects on natural predators and the toxin's
evolutionary function. Southwestern Nat., 41:375-377.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20090619131431AAngOHk
Second link claims they are not toxic to other fish. Probably not worth risking it with rays without a better source though.
Edit:
The better source is actually bottled in the second link--direct quote:
"Q: Are gar eggs truly poisonous or is this an old fishers' tale that has been repeated so often that it has the illusion of truth?
A: I spoke with Ken Ostrand, lead author of the second paper cited below. He confirmed what I suspected, that the toxin has yet to be identified. He said it is a protein of some kind, and speculated it may even be an algicide or fungicide. He also said it may just be an old wives' tale, which many people have suggested. Adding to the mix is the fact that of
the few studies that have focused on the subject (most of which offer just anecdotal reports), none describe the eggs as being toxic to other fishes. From an evolutionary perspective, this is significant, since fishes would be the most likely predators on gar eggs (not chickens, as some studies have used, and certainly not humans). In other words, why
would egg toxicity evolve if it offered no protection against the most likely predators? So it may just be chance that the eggs cause sickness in birds and mammals. Or, as Ostrand suggested, converting the eggs to pellet form to feed to chickens, or even force-feeding raw eggs to mice, might involve changes in the biochemistry of the eggs which could cause an unnatural response."
Burns, T.A., D.T. Stalling, and W. Goodger. 1981. Gar ichthyootoxin - its effect on crayfish, with notes on bluegill sunfish. The Southwestern
Naturalist 25(4):513-515.
Ostrand, K.G., M. Thies, D.D. Hall, and M. Carpenter. 1996. Gar
ichthyootoxin: its effects on natural predators and the toxin's
evolutionary function. Southwestern Nat., 41:375-377.
