Black Gar?

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Its also curious why nobody owns one in a fish tank? Anybody ever seen a pic of one in a tank?

 

[Polypterus]

I've had a melanistic Longnosed and a few really dark Florida and Gators...
The thing about them is they do not always show a pitch black colour year round. There are a few populations where this pops up as being common year round but these fish are not collected for the hobby. Really few Gars are Wild collected for the hobby so this is not overly surprising..

 

[demjor19]

i was just guessing. and i have never seen pics of any other species except gator being black. isnt it a color deformmation or something. cuz i think i read it somewhere.

...and this is exactly how misinformation gets started...if you dont know something, please dont just guess.

 

[demjor19]

Its also curious why nobody owns one in a fish tank? Anybody ever seen a pic of one in a tank?

somebody does or did...

http://primitivefishes.com/FloridaGar.htm

 

[xander]

I've had a melanistic Longnosed and a few really dark Florida and Gators...
The thing about them is they do not always show a pitch black colour year round. There are a few populations where this pops up as being common year round but these fish are not collected for the hobby. Really few Gars are Wild collected for the hobby so this is not overly surprising..

are these fish you'er talking about melanistic?

edit: are the fish that dont stay pitch black melanisitc?

 

[demjor19]

are these fish you'er talking about melanistic?

yes...Melanism - is an increased amount of black or nearly black pigmentation.

 

[xander]

then isn't it genetic? why would the colour be changing around through the year?

 

[E_americanus]

then isn't it genetic? why would the colour be changing around through the year?

sometimes around spawning colors will change and the fish can be darker; there can be a genetic component to how dark the fish gets during this period or other periods as well. so yes, melanism is genetic, but the degree and time span at which it occurs can be quite variable.

you can see some pics of black gars on this site as well:
www.garfishing.com

--solomon