ok so as people suspected and others at least answered 50% correctly, this one was a tough one again...
Answer: (most likely) longnose x shortnose hybrid, aka "medius gar".
it should be noted that we cannot say with absolute certainty that this is a hybrid, but Richard and I were pretty convinced it was a likely hybrid when we caught this ~5 years ago. unfortunately we did not take a fin clipping, otherwise i could have the DNA run on the fish and determine the species of the parents.
we do know that these fishes can hybridize, as we submitted another sample of medius gar DNA for testing and it's come back positive (other information on this is still in the works).
if you look at the features of the fish, you'll note the elongate snout that is too long for a typical shortnose, and too short for a typical longnose. the caudal peduncle is similar to a longnose with a more elongate structure, but the pelvic fins are very long like a shortnose.
body pattern is sort of a cross between the two fishes, and given the habitat (muddy waters in a river) there is not a strong pattern found in either species (we found both component species as well).
there has been a fish or two that's come through my possession as well that we weren't quite sure about, but again, this was before we had access to genetic testing.
congrats to everyone who ventured a guess on this tough one, and i think at least a couple of you got it right or were solidly on the right track!
next one will be a bit "easier" --
--solomon
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