Gar ID Quiz - CHALLENGE
- Thread starter E_americanus
- Start date
the gator down for the count?
it does look more like a trop.
darn my guess was kinda right. i did say attracteus.
TELL US!
it does look more like a trop.
darn my guess was kinda right. i did say attracteus.
TELL US!
ok one final photograph...here's the fish!--
--solomon
PS-- for a bonus challenge, what is the gar on the left of this image...?
--solomon
PS-- for a bonus challenge, what is the gar on the left of this image...?
haha nice job to those of you who (at least at one point) guessed correctly (before second-guessing yourselves.
Le-Plat, you never did explain why you thought it was Croc I...?
this one was a tough one from the beginning as i didn't show a live fish, and at that you really only had the head/jaws. this one would have been a challenge even for those of us who have worked with gars for many years. here are some diagnostics to look for given the photos:
from photo 1 jaws/partial head shot:
- you can at least see that there is a relatively short/medium snout, so you can rule out longnose.
- you can see there is a second row of teeth that is larger than what you would see in Lepisosteus gars, but still not quite as prominent as Atractosteus gars...this may lead some to look at something in between the genera (aka hybrid between the two). that being said, it's still a tough call.
photo 2 flank
- moderately stocky body reaffirms the elimination of longnose from the pool
- the pattern on the body eliminates Cuban gar (Cubans have very minimal pattern)
- spots are blotchy, which still leaves gator, tropical, Florida, spotted...but in most cases would eliminate shortnose as by this size they have more striations in the posterior. the blotches are a little big for a typical gator, however, and a little too numerous and large for a typical tropical gar (although trops have a highly variable pattern). the double row of teeth from the previous pic should more or less have eliminated pure Lepisosteus gars.
Photo 3 & 4
- head shows intermediate length snout...having eliminated Lepisosteus genus fish, this leaves tropical (we already eliminated Cuban) since gators would have a much shorter snout at this size. but given the body shape...
- it's much more slender than a typical tropical
- you can see some of the striations that you would see on a shortnose toward the posterior, and ALL of this becomes more evident in...
the final photo (live fish)
- you can see here that the snout is intermediate length and width
- there is a combo of the juvenile spotting that gators have, but also the posterior dorso-medial striations that a shortnose would have
- the color is also more orange-brown, which you would not see in a tropical in most cases.
FINALLY - the bonus...anyone have a guess?
nice job to everyone who guessed!--
--solomon
Le-Plat, you never did explain why you thought it was Croc I...?
this one was a tough one from the beginning as i didn't show a live fish, and at that you really only had the head/jaws. this one would have been a challenge even for those of us who have worked with gars for many years. here are some diagnostics to look for given the photos:
from photo 1 jaws/partial head shot:
- you can at least see that there is a relatively short/medium snout, so you can rule out longnose.
- you can see there is a second row of teeth that is larger than what you would see in Lepisosteus gars, but still not quite as prominent as Atractosteus gars...this may lead some to look at something in between the genera (aka hybrid between the two). that being said, it's still a tough call.
photo 2 flank
- moderately stocky body reaffirms the elimination of longnose from the pool
- the pattern on the body eliminates Cuban gar (Cubans have very minimal pattern)
- spots are blotchy, which still leaves gator, tropical, Florida, spotted...but in most cases would eliminate shortnose as by this size they have more striations in the posterior. the blotches are a little big for a typical gator, however, and a little too numerous and large for a typical tropical gar (although trops have a highly variable pattern). the double row of teeth from the previous pic should more or less have eliminated pure Lepisosteus gars.
Photo 3 & 4
- head shows intermediate length snout...having eliminated Lepisosteus genus fish, this leaves tropical (we already eliminated Cuban) since gators would have a much shorter snout at this size. but given the body shape...
- it's much more slender than a typical tropical
- you can see some of the striations that you would see on a shortnose toward the posterior, and ALL of this becomes more evident in...
the final photo (live fish)
- you can see here that the snout is intermediate length and width
- there is a combo of the juvenile spotting that gators have, but also the posterior dorso-medial striations that a shortnose would have
- the color is also more orange-brown, which you would not see in a tropical in most cases.
FINALLY - the bonus...anyone have a guess?
nice job to everyone who guessed!--
--solomon
no clue on bonus. i never explained so that others could look without copieing. lol
alright here was how i did it. first i brought up primitivefishes.com. i find it better to id when i have other specimens.
second i found the second row of teeth on the top jaw. immediatly started studying the attratecous photos(as like u said it isnt quite as noticeable in lepisosteus gar).
next i studyd snout length and snout to eye length. next i studyd color. using these things i was able to rule out, cubans, croc IIs and croc IIIs. after looking at the pics on PF, i decided that it wasnt a gator or trop. just it didnt look right. i cant really put my finger on why, just measurements werent right.
that left croc I. after looking at the pics of Croc I i was sure of it. but when i asked if anybody was close i just second guessd myself.
but that doesnt change the fact that I WAS RIGHT!!
alright here was how i did it. first i brought up primitivefishes.com. i find it better to id when i have other specimens.
second i found the second row of teeth on the top jaw. immediatly started studying the attratecous photos(as like u said it isnt quite as noticeable in lepisosteus gar).
next i studyd snout length and snout to eye length. next i studyd color. using these things i was able to rule out, cubans, croc IIs and croc IIIs. after looking at the pics on PF, i decided that it wasnt a gator or trop. just it didnt look right. i cant really put my finger on why, just measurements werent right.
that left croc I. after looking at the pics of Croc I i was sure of it. but when i asked if anybody was close i just second guessd myself.
but that doesnt change the fact that I WAS RIGHT!!
