i know that with birds you can get a dna test to tell the sex. i was thinking and plannig to try to breed gars...now that being said i know that it is vertually impossible to tell the diff sex by sight. i was wondering if you could get a similar dna test that is done on birds done on gars to try to establish a pair or group of knowen mix sexes to try to get a spawn and repeted spawns. anyone know of a test like that? or if gars are pair breeders or group breeders?
dna test?
- Thread starter sbuse
- Start date
I'm not sure, but I would think it would be possible. Just not very economical, I would think, to do the testing. I did a lot of DNA testing and analysis on mice and rats when I worked for a university, and the time and difficulty involved mean it wouldn't likely be cheap, unless you had access to the lab and equipment yourself, or knew someone who did.
I think you'd be just as likely to have success keeping a random group of gar in a tank together. Then, if you see any possibly mating behavior, you could isolate those two to a separate tank, or remove all the other gars from their tank.
I think you'd be just as likely to have success keeping a random group of gar in a tank together. Then, if you see any possibly mating behavior, you could isolate those two to a separate tank, or remove all the other gars from their tank.
the bird testing is like $25...i would do the large group anyways but if i could get the test i think i would have better chances at getting some results if i could garentee 1 male to 2-3 females...imo is there any info on gar breeding habits/ requirements anywhere?...if i had sucsess the pay off would make it worth it....to do the testing...does anyone breed or have bread gars before?
after doing some more research i found out that it would be possible...they are group spawners and spawn in shallow weedy flats in the spring(feb.-march) mainly and sometimes in the fall...they don't care for the young...and the row is toxic to animals, fish, birds and humans...they fry stay stuck to the heavey vedgitation with a sticky attachment to there snout till they are 3/4" long...then they eat insects, larva, zooplancton, and small fish...problibly best done in a pond with a shallow shelf and lot of vegitation on it...some slow curent could be benifical...the adults would leave the flat after spawning, then one could block the flat off so the fry and parents couldn't intermix(to avoid any canibalism)...the females drop the row scattered amoung the plants then the males fertilize (normally 2+ males per gravid female)...they also have a higher male to female ratio...the visual sexual diff is that females are larger and heavier then the males...
also more rainfall in the spring is thought to play a part in the urge to spawn...a thought to simulate this is to keep your pond with a few inches of water in the flat normally, then when you want to try a spawn "flood" the flat to 1.5-2" to represent the rainy season flooding...this pond and flat would have to be fairly large in size to accomodate roughly 10-20 adults to have the best results...in the wild they do this in schools of hundreds witch is not fesible in the home setup...
this is about longenose gars, but seems to be simmilar as florida gars-
"spawning occurs from May to late June, and possibly early July. In southern Wisconsin the fish often ascend rivers to spawn over the weed beds of shallower waters (Cahn 1927). In lakes the longnose gar spawns in shoal water, usually in grass and weeds, but it has been observed spawning about stone piles of railroad bridges (Forbes and Richardson 1920).
Spawning was associated with two ranges of temperature peaking at 67.1 and 69.8 degrees F, and the date suggest that spawning occurs with rising temperatures of the water – the immediate stimulus for the formation of the spawning groups. During each year there is usually more than one 3-day period of spawning, and these periods are concentrated within two ranges of temperature.
As many as 15 males approach a female. If she is ready to spawn, she leads them in an elliptical path (apparently related to the shape of the spawning ground) for up to 15 minutes before spawning occurs. Over the spawning bed the males nudge the female with the ends of their snouts in the pectoral, lateral, and ventro-lateral areas. Frequent surfacing and gulping takes place during this phase. Then the spawning group positions itself at one place with the heads down and snouts very close to or touching the bottom, and males continue to nudge the female. A rapid, violent quivering of the spawners follows as eggs and sperm are released. The quivering moves the spawning group forward and away from the spawning area.
Nine days after hatching the gar takes it’s first aerial breath and begins to feed.
Growth rate of the longnose gar during its first year of life is rapid. Approximate growth is 1.5 mm per day. Baby gar tend to eat 9.1% of their body weight per day and digestion is completed within 24 hrs. Gar inactivity is probably the major factor contributing to the low food conversion factor. Even feeding seems to be a leisurely activity. Females will grow to approximately 22 inches in the first year, whereas males only grow to approximately 19 inches in the first year. Females continue to grow approximately 1 in a year for 13 or 14 years and will outlive the males. Males will mature between 3 and 4 years and females at about 6 years of age." -taken from garmasters....it has some of the info that i got off of several sites and includes a temp range that i didn't see in those sites...
"spawning occurs from May to late June, and possibly early July. In southern Wisconsin the fish often ascend rivers to spawn over the weed beds of shallower waters (Cahn 1927). In lakes the longnose gar spawns in shoal water, usually in grass and weeds, but it has been observed spawning about stone piles of railroad bridges (Forbes and Richardson 1920).
Spawning was associated with two ranges of temperature peaking at 67.1 and 69.8 degrees F, and the date suggest that spawning occurs with rising temperatures of the water – the immediate stimulus for the formation of the spawning groups. During each year there is usually more than one 3-day period of spawning, and these periods are concentrated within two ranges of temperature.
As many as 15 males approach a female. If she is ready to spawn, she leads them in an elliptical path (apparently related to the shape of the spawning ground) for up to 15 minutes before spawning occurs. Over the spawning bed the males nudge the female with the ends of their snouts in the pectoral, lateral, and ventro-lateral areas. Frequent surfacing and gulping takes place during this phase. Then the spawning group positions itself at one place with the heads down and snouts very close to or touching the bottom, and males continue to nudge the female. A rapid, violent quivering of the spawners follows as eggs and sperm are released. The quivering moves the spawning group forward and away from the spawning area.
Nine days after hatching the gar takes it’s first aerial breath and begins to feed.
Growth rate of the longnose gar during its first year of life is rapid. Approximate growth is 1.5 mm per day. Baby gar tend to eat 9.1% of their body weight per day and digestion is completed within 24 hrs. Gar inactivity is probably the major factor contributing to the low food conversion factor. Even feeding seems to be a leisurely activity. Females will grow to approximately 22 inches in the first year, whereas males only grow to approximately 19 inches in the first year. Females continue to grow approximately 1 in a year for 13 or 14 years and will outlive the males. Males will mature between 3 and 4 years and females at about 6 years of age." -taken from garmasters....it has some of the info that i got off of several sites and includes a temp range that i didn't see in those sites...
maybe a name change? to inclued breeding info...all who have info that i don't have listed feel free to add...