Difference between spotted and florida?

[Schmike]

went through lots of pics from all over the Internet.

searched through AP n MFK and googled "spotted gar", "florida gar", "Lepisosteus platyrhincus" n "Lepisosteus oculatus" for info n pics.

somehow this should be the most accurate info?:

based on http://www.lepisosteidae.net/:

Spotted:
Identification:
Lateral line scales - 54-59
Usually several spots on head and body, although spots may be absent in individuals from turbid waters. Snout usually longer than that of shortnose gar, but shorter than that of longnose gar. Very similar in appearance to Florida gar, but may be distinguished by presence of bony plates on lateral portions of isthmus.


Florida:
Identification:
Lateral line scales -
Numerous spots on head and body, however individuals from turbid waters may have reduced spots or lack spotting. Very similar in appearance to spotted gar, however, lacks bony plates on lateral portions of isthmus; also has somewhat shorter and broader snout and stouter body than spotted gar.



where exactly is the bony plates on the isthmus? the part behind the eyes? or the harder part of the gill cover?

how to tell if that is a spotted or florida?

how about this skull? it is a platyrhincus or a oculatus?

if based on my understanding of those bony plates, this should be a spotted. but it is shown as a florida.

 

[xander]

"lateral scale lines in florida gar based on 76 specimens, also 54-59, with a mean of 56.5. Gill rakers based on 30 specimens: 19-33, with a mean of 24.9.

in spotted gars, lateral line based on 177 specimens was 53-59, with a mean of 56.1 Gill rakers based on 32 specimens: 15-24, with an average of 19.3.

L. Plathyrinchus is distinguished from L. Oculatus primarily by its lack of plates on the ventral surface of the isthmus, by its wider snout, and by the wider lower jaws.

female spotted gars proportionally has a longer snout than the male, but this difference is not easily demonstrated because the snout-length/ head-length ratio changes with size of individual. As in the case of L. oculatus, sexual dimorphism is apparent in this species also, i. e. females attain a larger size and proportionally have a longer snout than males. In length of snout, the females of platyrhincus overlap the males of oculatus." (suttkus 1963)

asides from that, you'll find other info to be the same as what i've alr mentioned on af. wait for e_americanus to chime in on the bony plates i've completely forgotton about that

 

[sbuse]

the eye to snout length of the florida is about the same as the eye to gill plate, the spot's eye/snout length is about dubble the eye to gill plate lenght...this is in addition to the boney plates on the throat that the spot has and the florida does not...

 

[Schmike]

seems like what i was looking at was wrong about those bony plates (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/isthmus):

isth⋅mus

  /ˈɪs

məs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [is-muh

s] Show IPA Use isthmus in a Sentence

See web results for isthmus

See images of isthmus

–noun, plural -mus⋅es, -mi  /-maɪ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [-mahy] Show IPA .
1. a narrow strip of land, bordered on both sides by water, connecting two larger bodies of land.
2. Anatomy, Zoology. a connecting, usually narrow, part, organ, or passage, esp. when joining structures or cavities larger than itself.
3. Ichthyology. the narrow fleshy area between the sides of the lower jaw of a fish.

 

[xander]

the eye to snout length of the florida is about the same as the eye to gill plate, the spot's eye/snout length is about dubble the eye to gill plate lenght...this is in addition to the boney plates on the throat that the spot has and the florida does not...

eye to snout lenght rule has been ruled out

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

works ok on wild but does not work for captive

 

[E_americanus]

locality makes it easiest, and then if it's from an LFS you can be reasonably sure it's a Florida gar (provided you've narrowed it down to those two species). the 2/3 "rule" doesn't hold true in most cases and is practically useless.

spotteds will generally have a longer snout, Floridas with a shorter broader snout. look at some of the photos on primitivefishes.com and you will notice the snout differences. as they get larger (especially in wild specimens) this can be harder to distinguish in some individuals.

the bony plates rule holds true, but is difficult to do on live specimens and stresses the fish. it cannot be done simply by looking at the fish in your tank through the glass--
--solomon

 

[Schmike]

thanks solomon.

im still waiting for news from my LFS. but i doubt he will be able to get his hands on a spotted for me in Singapore.

any idea if spotted can be found in Thailand? if they can be found there, most likely my LFS's supplier will be able to get hold of them.

 

[Schmike]

do you think it is possible for you to ship a couple of them over to Singapore?