Thats awesome Joe ! I had the chance to buy a cuban gar last year ( even started a thread here ) but i kept on putting it off until they all got sold. Glad you got yours. Grow it out
then send it my way !
then send it my way !
My new pick up - Cuban Gar
- Thread starter rumblesushi
- Start date
Again, that pic shows markings on the side like a juvi tropical gar that may have just been shipped so to be washed out in color. The color really doesn't have any bronze, brown, or olive coloring. I can make out a slight bit on the top but that could be reflection. The head doesn't look that broad, even for a juvi. And I've seen some juvi tropicals that have some unusual coloring and markings. Plus with so many getting tropical gars that were sold as cubans led me to just make sure you got a cuban. I even said it may just be the picture angle. I have seen it happen many times before and I wanted to make sure you weren't take for a ride as I know true cubans cost a lot.
slanted, thanks for your concern 
And yep gars often look washed out etc with shipping.
The head is very broad, basically as broad as the body, just like a gator gar from the top.
In person it really looks nothing like a tropical at all. It's bronze, more so than the silvery look in the photo, and has a swirly orange/brown tail.
In this photo the snout still looks broader than a tropical, but the biggest giveaway really to a cuban ID is the tail. Even though this pic lacks colouration, look at the swirly broken stripes on the tail. No other gar has a tail like that. Compare that to the smaller straight stripes of the tropical.
And yep gars often look washed out etc with shipping.The head is very broad, basically as broad as the body, just like a gator gar from the top.
In person it really looks nothing like a tropical at all. It's bronze, more so than the silvery look in the photo, and has a swirly orange/brown tail.
In this photo the snout still looks broader than a tropical, but the biggest giveaway really to a cuban ID is the tail. Even though this pic lacks colouration, look at the swirly broken stripes on the tail. No other gar has a tail like that. Compare that to the smaller straight stripes of the tropical.
wes and dmack - thanks hombres. I really like this fish a lot, more than I thought I would, and not just for the rarity factor.
It's got a cute cartoony alligator face, and is more active than gars I've had in the past. I've only owned spotted and longnose gars before, and they were less active.
This Cuban doesn't dash around, but is constantly cruising the top of the tank.
In person they look better than any of the pics. Each scale has a nice dark outline, and they are the only gars that look almost shiny. They have a metallic bronze sheen to them, subtle but looks great.
And they just look cool in a minimalist kind of way, the metallic patternless body, and the swirly orange/brown tail.
In fact because I have taken such a liking to this gar, I am a little concerned about it's current and future tankmates, the cobra snakehead and the aro.
It was absolutely mint earlier, and now it's got a split tail and a little cut on it's snout, from the stupid aro. Luckily the snakehead has ignored it, and the aro has ignored it since.
I'd like to keep it on it's own or just with some bichirs, but at the moment that's not possible.
It's got a cute cartoony alligator face, and is more active than gars I've had in the past. I've only owned spotted and longnose gars before, and they were less active.
This Cuban doesn't dash around, but is constantly cruising the top of the tank.
In person they look better than any of the pics. Each scale has a nice dark outline, and they are the only gars that look almost shiny. They have a metallic bronze sheen to them, subtle but looks great.
And they just look cool in a minimalist kind of way, the metallic patternless body, and the swirly orange/brown tail.
In fact because I have taken such a liking to this gar, I am a little concerned about it's current and future tankmates, the cobra snakehead and the aro.
It was absolutely mint earlier, and now it's got a split tail and a little cut on it's snout, from the stupid aro. Luckily the snakehead has ignored it, and the aro has ignored it since.
I'd like to keep it on it's own or just with some bichirs, but at the moment that's not possible.
My beefy 13 inch aro is currently getting beaten up a bit by the new 8 inch skinny cobra snakehead. But, touch wood, the snakehead and gar appear to be friends. A few times I've seen them just hovering at the top together, parallel, looking out of the tank.
If the snakehead had a problem with the gar, I'd have no choice but to move it and let it destroy my cichlids.
Thanks Honda, I'll try and post another pic next week, it's just that I have to drive an hour to go to a decent photo developer lol
It honestly looks so much better than that pic.
If the snakehead had a problem with the gar, I'd have no choice but to move it and let it destroy my cichlids.
Thanks Honda, I'll try and post another pic next week, it's just that I have to drive an hour to go to a decent photo developer lol
It honestly looks so much better than that pic.
Yeah, I'm sure in person it looks much more cuban like. I guess now it's time to save up for the platinum cuban. 
I really don't go by the tail so much except to separate Lepisosteus from Atractosteus since it is so obvious. I'll post some pics of some Tropical gars that have that same swirly tail coloring. Really cool.
I really don't go by the tail so much except to separate Lepisosteus from Atractosteus since it is so obvious. I'll post some pics of some Tropical gars that have that same swirly tail coloring. Really cool.
