i think we both definitely agree that density dependent issues are a major factor in some of these populations...especially where they are getting tons of gars. i'd have to think garvana is the exception as well. the places where a lot of these studies sample are places with tons of gars, which makes sense, but density dependence must be accounted for.
in Joseph Love's study (2002), which we're both familiar with, the mean length for spotted gars was 17" for males and 20" for females...with of course some outliers on either side. i think this further points to some stunting in captivity as we infrequently see spotted gars at the 20" mark (or even 17" for that matter) that have been grown in captivity since YOY stages.
again, i think the biotic factors affecting different populations will keep some mean sizes down and others up. if you look at the pics of fishes captured (and this may only be a crude comparison) on the garfishing website, just about all of those are larger than any seen in captivity.
ah well, just another one of those things to discuss as you said...although i think we'd both be preaching to the choir (point being why i don't bother citing sources most of the time...plus we get to do plenty of that as it is for work
) --
--solomon
ps-- another interesting thing with Love's study is that their estimates for mean sizes were higher than Hunt's...and given the species, one would expect Floridas to generally be larger, but again...density dependence--
in Joseph Love's study (2002), which we're both familiar with, the mean length for spotted gars was 17" for males and 20" for females...with of course some outliers on either side. i think this further points to some stunting in captivity as we infrequently see spotted gars at the 20" mark (or even 17" for that matter) that have been grown in captivity since YOY stages.
again, i think the biotic factors affecting different populations will keep some mean sizes down and others up. if you look at the pics of fishes captured (and this may only be a crude comparison) on the garfishing website, just about all of those are larger than any seen in captivity.
ah well, just another one of those things to discuss as you said...although i think we'd both be preaching to the choir (point being why i don't bother citing sources most of the time...plus we get to do plenty of that as it is for work
) ----solomon
ps-- another interesting thing with Love's study is that their estimates for mean sizes were higher than Hunt's...and given the species, one would expect Floridas to generally be larger, but again...density dependence--
