How do you sex a Gar??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Lepisosteus platyrhincus

Polypterus
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2008
6,766
17
92
In the caiman den
How do you sex a gar?
and(though its probaly not possible) can you breed these in aquaria...
i really dont think that you can just figured id ask
 
It is possible to breed gar in captivity. I have no personal experience with this so I can't tell you much, but it has been done. I would think you need a huge pond and atleast a dozen gar that are sexual mature which I believe takes quite a while, upwards of 10 years.

As for sexing them, there is no way to tell unless you kill them. (As far as I have researched) You would just have to take your chances and get a nice large group of them in order to assure you have both male and female.
 
wow...no way to sex them unless theyre killed....
well i wont be try to sex mine
thanks for the info
 
hehehe...
 
-has been done in aquaria even with just two individuals; rarely occurs though
-fish cannot be externally sexed by conventional methods. info on age and species can help make an educated guess, however. there are recent advancements in blood analysis which would allow sexing the fish without killing them.
-spotted gars can mature after their first year, often males at 2-3, females at 3-4. longnoses take a bit longer. tropicals mature earlier than cubans and gators, with gator females often not maturing until age 11.

hope those details help a bit--
--solomon
 
thanks for the detailed info
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com