BLACK GAR

[keni]

these gars look kool... hey pwmin i love your avatar she is def the hottest s.g.

 

[dmcskoolkid]

so i would have to make my enviorment dark to get a melanistic gar?

 

[vaipulu]

enough Christmas color arguing...

 

[Madding]

so i would have to make my enviorment dark to get a melanistic gar?

Tones of color may change based on your set-up, but you will never achieve a "jet" black gar IMO, and certainly not a melanistic one, as melanism is a genetic abnormality that is present in some very few gars that leaves them with an overabundance of dark pigmentation.

They are in the same boat as leucistic or xanthic fish.

 

[E_americanus]

so i would have to make my enviorment dark to get a melanistic gar?

no, darker background may bring out a bolder pattern in the gar, but it is not going to induce melanism. melanism is a mutation, not brought on directly by the environment.

the comments on gars being melanistic because of blindness are not supported by genetics or ecology. gars in darkness won't turn (or stay) black--
--solomon

 

[Madding]

no, darker background may bring out a bolder pattern in the gar, but it is not going to induce melanism. melanism is a mutation, not brought on directly by the environment.

Are these types of mutations always present at birth, or can a fish ever develop them at a later stage in life by some sort of trigger?

I've never heard of a fish randomly turning platinum/gold/black/red/etc, but I figured we could clear it up here to add some more knowledge to the gar-pool.

 

[E_americanus]

Are these types of mutations always present at birth, or can a fish ever develop them at a later stage in life by some sort of trigger?

I've never heard of a fish randomly turning platinum/gold/black/red/etc, but I figured we could clear it up here to add some more knowledge to the gar-pool.

there are conditions where spawning gars will turn darker, but they will often change back afterward...and also vice versa where xanthic gars show more pattern variation (black blotches, for example) during spawning time.

usually these mutations are present at birth and then remain or fade, they usually don't develop after the first year from what we have observed of these genetic conditions thus far. the gars tend to look unusual pretty early on in their first year. i had a FL gar that started out gold with some normal pattern blotches, and it quickly developed into a normal FL, except for a slight patch of gold on the flank...and then that faded away after a couple years. that fish is about 6 years old now, and it looks exactly like a normal FLG (but likely still has some of the genetic material for the mutation).--
--solomon

 

[pwmin]

these gars look kool... hey pwmin i love your avatar she is def the hottest s.g.

well, besides Bella




very interesting read...sticky?

 

[dmcskoolkid]

my rtc is gone might jus stick with a florida since my last one got eaten

 

[Aisle17AorE]

Whew! (I can't wait); good exchange will all of you. I think I've just learned something but will have to re-read all these excellent posts!