Dont know that that is always the case. If the fish is stressed and the backround is dark. I know my poly's and T-gar were very dark for the first week or so when first introduced into my tank. Not sure why the assumption is that they would be lighter?
Black Gar
- Thread starter Mikeberg
- Start date
cabelas is so cool the one by my house has got a trout pond...many many mounted fish including peacock bass and a HUGE tank of natives
here are 2 pics of my florida/spotted. the first one is when he was really dark (stressed) and new to the tank. in the second photo(the larger florida) was in the tank for several months and all settled in. i think the color change is pretty noticable and possibly stress related.
keep in mind that it's more of the color changing back and forth that will indicate stress, as opposed to just a mere color change one way.
definitely a gar may appear black for several reasons -
-gars will drastically change colors to match their surroundings...they will often turn lighter with a lighter substrate, and darker with a darker substrate.
-they will also change color given certain lighting conditions
-they will change color at night, and lose virtually all pattern, even in the eyes (stripe) and just the round pupils will stand out.
-also various species will react to stress differently...usually a lighter color with a gar is a stress sign...but this is a continuum scale...just because a gar is light doesn't mean it's stressed, often times when it's first introduced and settling in is when it will be lightest, but this again can differ with substrate and how the fish reacts individually.
--Cubans go darker when stressed,
--gators go lighter (almost pink sometimes!) when stressed
--Florida/spotted/tropical/longnose/shortnose generally go lighter
take home message is that several factors contribute to pattern and color in these fish. in order to determine if the main fish in question is a true melanistic, a photo would help, or even video. i would also add that i doubt it is a gator gar, as a friend of mine at the museum had been contacting them about big fishes, and they will keep just about any gar except gators
--
--solomon
definitely a gar may appear black for several reasons -
-gars will drastically change colors to match their surroundings...they will often turn lighter with a lighter substrate, and darker with a darker substrate.
-they will also change color given certain lighting conditions
-they will change color at night, and lose virtually all pattern, even in the eyes (stripe) and just the round pupils will stand out.
-also various species will react to stress differently...usually a lighter color with a gar is a stress sign...but this is a continuum scale...just because a gar is light doesn't mean it's stressed, often times when it's first introduced and settling in is when it will be lightest, but this again can differ with substrate and how the fish reacts individually.
--Cubans go darker when stressed,
--gators go lighter (almost pink sometimes!) when stressed
--Florida/spotted/tropical/longnose/shortnose generally go lighter
take home message is that several factors contribute to pattern and color in these fish. in order to determine if the main fish in question is a true melanistic, a photo would help, or even video. i would also add that i doubt it is a gator gar, as a friend of mine at the museum had been contacting them about big fishes, and they will keep just about any gar except gators
----solomon
demjor19;1252352; said:
hey jordan,
in the case of your gar, it would be interesting to know a little about it's environment from which it came before you got it. usually darker pattern gars like this are coming from darker substrate environments, although diet, genetics, and other factors play into this as well.
yours looks quite healthy in the initial pic as it is, and i'm sure it's even better off now; i would not say those are stress colors. another issue is that yours may have changed colors a bit given the presence of the other gars...hard to say. the fact it went off live foods may have also been a factor, but it's hard to separate all the variables in some cases. do you remember what the substrate was like in it's former tank?
both of my Florida/spotted gars are currently in their lighter pattern mode right now, and have been this way pretty much since i got them (although my spotted actually started off gold...but that's another story
). it's been awhile since i've had a dark Florida/spotted, although many times the darkly patterned gar you bring home from the fish store turns light (especially in the case of Florida/spotteds) when it goes into its new tank.at least the bottom line is that it looks like your gar was quite healthy going in, and is obviously doing well right now
----solomon
