Alligator Gar-~24" in the first year, growth rates usually slow down at 36". in most home aquariums, this fish is usually stunted, only hitting a 3'-4' range. although 5'-6' is very possible given sufficient facilities. Very much stouter when compared to Lepisosteus Species. this is not an average home aquarium fish.
This a a bit generalized and has issues attached...
Really it is not common for a Gator to reach 24 inches in the first year in wild populations. (Described properly by Solomon as growing season) 15 to 18 is. In captivity this can be skewed a bit and a well feed fish kept in tropical like conditions can exceed what would be a normal growth pattern.
They can however, be kept properly and have a correct weight and length curve that matches the fishes usual wild model... With proper husbandry...
THESE ARE TEMPERATE FISH... Not Tropical...
It should be noted that "stunting" is very common in all fish and it is not just the Gator that gets stunted in captive (or even wild) conditions. All Gars exhibit this and you really should note it for all of them.. It is also not necessarily a bad thing for the fish. It may very well still mature and may very well have a similar reproductive output as a non-stunted individual. There exists a point where it is really bad but if this is the case you will or would have killed the fish already...
Fish frequently respond to overcrowding and lack of food by reducing growth.. Environment is everything in general... Your not going to get a huge Gator (or any gar) raising it out of captive conditions unless you got the fish that way right from the wild... Growth is variable depending on living environment offered to the animal. There is no rule on what it should be or what is the right growth and what is the wrong growth... This is highly variable. First year of the life of the fish is critical and in this year you set it's survival or demise and most other aspects of it's later life. This seriously needs to be understood about these fish...
One really can not pigeon hole Max growth into a neat little category. It just can not be done without taking into consideration multiple variables and understanding how those variables act upon the fish.
IMHO
NO gar species is the average aquarium fish and their proper husbandry is very much something most hobbyists really do not want to deal with or they really do not have the resources and facilities to properly keep them during critical periods, but this view I seem to hold only.
IMO these fish (All species) are NOT community fish and their average proper husbandry is a lot more complex than what is regularly given on these forums.
A lot is being learned about these fish these days due to more dedicated work with them. Really in the Past few years more information has been published and made known than at any other time in the 150 million years plus that these fish have existed.. They are very much a Work in progress..
We are not ready to assign stereotypical traits to these fish quite yet
