florida gar?????

[hikogator]

i think its a spotted gar.
Florida gar have irregular round, black spots on the top of the head and over the entire body and on all the fins. Other gars, except for spotted gars, have spots on the fins and usually on the posterior part of the body. They can be distinguished from other gars, such as spotted gars, by the distance from the front of the eye to the back of the gill cover. In Florida gars, the distance is less than two-thirds the length of the snout. In spotted gars, the distance is more than two-thirds the length of the snout. Other characteristics of Florida gars include a shorter, broader snout with a single row of irregularly spaced sharp teeth on both upper and lower jaws and no bony scales on the throat

 

[xander]

^ definitely not true. the information posted is outdated and largely inaccurate. hikogator, it's good that you try and help, but do ensure the advice you give/information you post is accurate!

the fish is 100% a florida gar.

 

[hikogator]

sorry if im wrong.
but can u tell me,how to identify,both species ?

 

[Polypterus]

sorry if im wrong.
but can u tell me,how to identify,both species ?

ID of Oculatus from Platyrhincus can be complicated. Both fish are very similar and traits of them can overlap. Best method of ID is knowing the location of where the fish was caught or where it came from.

 

[candle1212]

that i cant help with sorry its been imported. they said florida gar

 

[candle1212]

do other people keep gars with sa/ca cichlids? i wanted to test if he would be ok also and yes it was fine by the looks of things i have 3 other fish with special needs for feeding so 1 more will not hurt peje reply sound like i should not be putting him in there will the others? can gars be in mixed tanks ok ?

 

[hikogator]

i always think,spotted have longer snout than florida ....is that wrong?

 

[candle1212]

i put white bait in and he takes it straight away now as it sinks he takes it. i will get a inch or two of size on him then i will place him back in main tank, i feed the fire eel and the bir diffrently than the others so they get food ok its not problem i just needed time for a feeding pattern to be worked out for him and to wean him onto frozen food i spose away from the attention of the other fish for a time. pellets in 1 end of the tank and frozen in the other end for the others who need diffrent care .i thought if it was going to get problems with housing him in there it would of already happend all ready,its like they dont see him almost..i spose cus he look totally diffrent than the others.

 

[candle1212]

hes larger than i thought and i think he has got bigger hes 11inch head to tail now and a lot thicker now, i never measured him to start with but they seam to get big fast if you feed them well..what is there normal full size any one??

 

[Wiggles92]

Okay, a few things:

• Gar Tankmates
  • Gars and cichlids of any kind generally do not mix, especially when it comes to aggressive cichlids. Most experienced gar keepers recommend against attempting any gar/cichlid combinations.
  • Gars tend to do well with other larger peaceful fishes such as bichirs and Australian lungfishes. Fire eels also seem to be good tankmates as noted by other members. Stingrays can be hit or miss since most people have them work out fine, but a few others have had their stingrays killed by their gars.
  • Please remember that a combination that works for someone else may not work for you, so try to stick to combinations that work in most, if not all, cases.
• Gar Growth
  • Florida gars tend to max out at 18" to 22" in captivity.
  • Florida gars tend to grow very fast for their first 12" or so, but growth tends to slow down drastically after that point.