gar id

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hikogator

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2011
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im from indonesia,and i guess people in my country is confused how to different spotted gar and florida gar.
so i want to ask.
which of florida gar and spotted gar who is more rare in the wild.....
show some pict too please,true spotted,true florida,and spotted x florida.
thanks.
 
It can be hard to tell.

I do know that finding true spotteds will be difficult lest you know distribution differences between the two species and/or go to a fish hatchery.

Otherwise, physical differences alone won't be enough for most cases of classification.
 
It's pretty much impossible to tell the two apart unless you know the slight nuances to look for in their pattern and morphology and/or the location that the gar was collected. Remember that the overall pattern of these gars is not a valid way of identifying their species. For example, not all spotted gars will have spots on their bellies just as not all Florida gars will lack spots on their bellies; anyone who tells you otherwise is incorrect. Pictures will not help with a positive ID because of how similar these gars appear to the average fish keeper. Lastly, outside of the U.S., the vast majority, if not all, gars labelled as Florida/spotted gars are really just Florida gars.

As for the rarity of these gars in the wild, the Florida gar has a very small distribution and is mainly restricted to Florida yet is farmed intensely for the fish industry while the spotted gar has a fairly large distribution encompassing much of the eastern U.S. yet it is not farmed very much, if at all (to my knowledge).
 
the spotted gar has a fairly large distribution encompassing much of the eastern U.S. yet it is not farmed very much, if at all (to my knowledge).

I'm not sure, but if I am correct, Sol did mention that there were some hatcheries in place for the Spotted Gar. He also noted that, for some, rare cases, the Spotteds actually did have a notable number of physical differences compared to Floridas, at least with the Wild specimens he was dealing with.
 
I'm not sure, but if I am correct, Sol did mention that there were some hatcheries in place for the Spotted Gar. He also noted that, for some, rare cases, the Spotteds actually did have a notable number of physical differences compared to Floridas, at least with the Wild specimens he was dealing with.

Those notable physical differences that he speaks of a pretty tough for us average gar keepers to pick up on, but gar experts such as Richard and himself typically can easily tell the difference between the two species; it seems like its something that is learned after dealing with these gars for a while.

i see.....
anyway which is more expensive ?

Well, I would say that Florida gars will definitely be cheaper considering where you're located and knowing that spotted gars have yet to be widely exported, if at all.
 
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