New Gar...

[Conner]

Looks like a shorty to me, although the snout does seem a bit long and skinny for a 19" shortnose gar.

Based on the lighter coloring, and the appearance (although its hard to tell because of the ripples) of spots on the lower flanks moving completely up top as you get closer to the tale looks very much shortnose gar pattern to me.

I suppose there's always the possibility that its a hybrid that someone took to the LFS, but that seems less likely to me than just a pure shortnose gar.

 

[E_americanus]

just added the fish to the big tank...will try and snap some pics later tonight, he's already coloring up quite a bit more after spending the night in a dark rubbermaid and ~2.5 weeks in the sump at an LFS.
hopefully the pics will convey that it's a little on the unusual side (Richard, will send the photos to you as well - but hopefully you'll get to check it out in person next week). that's all for now...hoping Croc II doesn't eat him overnight, the new gar was following him around like a puppy so far--
--solomon

 

[E_americanus]

hi all,

ok here are some quick shots i snapped tonight, will hopefully get some better pics later down the line when the fish is better settled in. he did ok for a while, but someone definitely nipped up the tail fins a bit over the several hours since my last post. this is expected and will hopefully be minimal for the most part.

so you can check out the fish for yourself...i'll post my thoughts on the ID soon--
--solomon

 

[Hao]

hi all,

ok here are some quick shots i snapped tonight, will hopefully get some better pics later down the line when the fish is better settled in. he did ok for a while, but someone definitely nipped up the tail fins a bit over the several hours since my last post. this is expected and will hopefully be minimal for the most part.

so you can check out the fish for yourself...i'll post my thoughts on the ID soon--
--solomon

Short snout Longnose Gar. Snout shape, pattern and coloration seems Longnose.

 

[xander]

^^ agreed, definitely looks like a longnose gar sans long-nose. pretty similar to the longnose at my lfs. am curious to what your thoughts are though!

 

[Hao]

^^ agreed, definitely looks like a longnose gar sans long-nose. pretty similar to the longnose at my lfs. am curious to what your thoughts are though!

The coloration and pattern kind of remind me of your monster Longnose, also a reason why I said Longnose.

 

[Polypterus]

I'll save my comments for a bit so Solomon has a chance to catch up and give his remarks. This is an interesting one. To those saying LNG though look at it again and compare to some of the species ID pics. There is something about this fish which gives it away right off. Remember that some traits in gars are rather plastic in nature others tend not to be.

 

[MonsterMinis]

longnose x florida/spotted hybrid? def not a trop hehe

 

[pharmaecopia]

I still want to say shortnose, just an odd looking one. The mouth has me thinking something else, but looking at the placement and size of the fins it has me thinking shortnose.

 

[E_americanus]

thanks for the comments all, Richard and i have an email correspondence going too...will be posting video in the next hour or so, this way you can see some other details on the fish--
--solomon

ok here is some video:

[YT]1FnZzxOkykY[/YT]