My Florida Gar is Male

[Sarcosuchus]

At least I think it is from what I have been noticing. My Polypterus Ornatipinnis is a female, and I am sure my Gar can sense my Polypterus' sex which has been making him to do something unique, interesting, beautiful.

He literally follows her wherever she goes and when he is able to touch her with his snout, he begins to caress her, he would literally caress her entire body and he is doing that right now as I am typing. And he does so much that I am sure she likes the sensations that she pauses for awhile and he continuously caresses her as he is on top of her. If he goes below he begins to caress her tummy, her anal fin, her tail....lol he is horny isn't he? And it's funny to see him on top of her caressing as he is trying to hold her with his fins. I wish I could take pictures but my camera isn't with me for now, my brother has borrowed it.

It's clear he is a male isn't he? Have you noticed this from your Gars? If there could be another reason I could say why I think he is a male, it would be his slender profile, very slender if not stuffed with food.

 

[Polypterus]

At least I think it is from what I have been noticing. My Polypterus Ornatipinnis is a female, and I am sure my Gar can sense my Polypterus' sex which has been making him to do something unique, interesting, beautiful.

He literally follows her wherever she goes and when he is able to touch her with his snout, he begins to caress her, he would literally caress her entire body and he is doing that right now as I am typing. And he does so much that I am sure she likes the sensations that she pauses for awhile and he continuously caresses her as he is on top of her. If he goes below he begins to caress her tummy, her anal fin, her tail....lol he is horny isn't he? And it's funny to see him on top of her caressing as he is trying to hold her with his fins. I wish I could take pictures but my camera isn't with me for now, my brother has borrowed it.

It's clear he is a male isn't he? Have you noticed this from your Gars? If there could be another reason I could say why I think he is a male, it would be his slender profile, very slender if not stuffed with food.

Unfortunatly what you are seeing has nothing to do with the sex of the fish. It is a fairly common threat / dominance display. Gars usually do this to each other more than with other species but it is known to occur.

 

[E_americanus]

Unfortunatly what you are seeing has nothing to do with the sex of the fish. It is a fairly common threat / dominance display. Gars usually do this to each other more than with other species but it is known to occur.

agree completely as to what you are seeing. since bichirs are similar in shape (elongate form) to gars its not surprising they would be likely to make these displays with them quite readily, perhaps even moreso than with other types of fishes.

in terms of sex determination, there is currently no sure-fire way to sex a gar externally, they must be examined internally to do so. that and your gar would not be sexually mature at that size and estimated age. males mature in about 3-4 years, females around 5 years.

interesting behavior to observer nevertheless--
--solomon