Is there a difference betweem these two? I have read that there the same but i have read in forums that say that they are different so pleae give me some input.
Differences in florida gars and spotted gars?
- Thread starter franchise513
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Yes there are differences in them, mostly on a morphologic basis. Some of these difference are significant but not easily determined unless you know exactly what you are looking for and know how to measure and calculate this into a meaningful format.
Given that 95% (if not more) hobby fish are not easily ID'd due to being Hobby trade fish, without locality information and showing skewed meritistic traits due to phenotypic changes caused by captivity, the common term "Florida / Spotted" has been coined. This is an accurate enough description that is just fine for general use. It should very much be noted that we are finding almost all of the hobby available fish these days to be Florida upon close examination. There is also very much the possibility of hybridization in many of these fish.
Basic husbandry and behavior of these fish appears to be Identical and there is little to no reason to actually separate the two species.
Given that 95% (if not more) hobby fish are not easily ID'd due to being Hobby trade fish, without locality information and showing skewed meritistic traits due to phenotypic changes caused by captivity, the common term "Florida / Spotted" has been coined. This is an accurate enough description that is just fine for general use. It should very much be noted that we are finding almost all of the hobby available fish these days to be Florida upon close examination. There is also very much the possibility of hybridization in many of these fish.
Basic husbandry and behavior of these fish appears to be Identical and there is little to no reason to actually separate the two species.
Most of the Florida gars I've seen have smaller/more spots and the spotted gars have larger/fewer spots.
like richard said, about the only way to tell the species apart is to know the excact locality of where the fish was obtained.
ultimatejay;2045622; said:
That is not at all diagnostic...Either of them can have a wide range of patterning and this can not be used in an ID at all....
Accurate ID depends on analysis of Meritistic / morphologic traits (with an understanding of captive phenotypic plasticity in these fish) or by Locality of capture.
There has to be a physical characteristic on the fish to differ the two species, if not then they are the same fish. Locality doesn't apply to these two as they are so widely spread and I bet a lot of them are mixed.
ultimatejay;2049318; said:
locality definitely applies to these two species, but in terms of pet trade fishes, only wild-caught specimens or 'farmed' specimens where the locality or parents are known will give a good idea of the true species.
locality is a big part in ID'ing many fishes, and is still applicable in most cases of Florida vs spotted gars. there are some morphological traits that can be considered, but close inspection of the actual fish is required--
--solomon
