New Tank/ New Gar

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
ok sorry for the delay folks, insane day today...but i will definitely give a report on how the feeding demo went. it isn't really anything fancy, they will be looking at the "reactive distance" of the gar-to-prey (will explain that better later). possibly prey preference between sunfish and fathead minnows...generally obvious stuff, but still more meaningful to the students with a live demo.

here is the fish we'll be using...if anyone has an ID be sure to let me know ;)

Fishlab Gar 1a.JPG

Fishlab Gar closea.JPG
 
^^^agree florida spotted gar. Do you plan on adding any plants or driftwood for the demonstration?
 
a bare tank has no effects on its feeding habits? snout looks too short for spotted, so i'm going with florida:)
 
nice fish hope things go well for u on your demo
 
Polypterus;2887996; said:
Mexican Metro Marble-line alligator garpike cichlid....
Obviously the only one it could be....
Click to expand...

and we have a winner! :nilly:


regarding xander's comment, yes, cover will definitely play a role in the gars behavior, but this is just a brief demo, likely over just a half hour or so tops...if it were a longer term demo then we'd set up more cover for prey, predator, etc. this is just a simple focus on the capture ability of the predator on the prey. that's why i moved him in on sunday, so he would at least be somewhat acclimatized to the environment by this afternoon.

ok i gotta finish up the talk i need to give for that class too...will come back with more later--
--solomon
 
well, gar demo went well...we were able to show the basic feeding mechanism/behavior of the gar on prey items (fathead minnow and goldfish) as well as the decision they will make to release prey too large for their gape. students enjoyed it, and it outperformed the yellow perch which just sat in its tank while the prey took refuge underneath it.

i will likely be posting video from the feeding mechanism presentation i gave on both lepisosteidae.net and primitive fishes.com, and will update those threads when that's done.

the rest of the talk used goldfish as the common prey item between a common plecostomus, midas cichlid, grass pickerel, longnose gar, and West African lungfish. will try to figure out how/where to post those videos for anyone interested in the near future.--
--solomon
 
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