Shortnose Gar - Lepisosteus platostomus

[King-eL]

Added 4 last pics few seconds ago with no flash this this time.

 

[E_americanus]

will take a look at these more closely tomorrow, but from initial glance, i would say the first pic is a FL gar, but the others are likely shortnose gars with the more unusual higher degree of pattern than the typical shortnoses (these generally end up looking the same as they get older). nice specimens for sure--
--solomon

 

[King-eL]

will take a look at these more closely tomorrow, but from initial glance, i would say the first pic is a FL gar, but the others are likely shortnose gars with the more unusual higher degree of pattern than the typical shortnoses (these generally end up looking the same as they get older). nice specimens for sure--
--solomon

Thanks! It's kinda sucks that one is a florida gar. Another points down to TFD. Lol! Well hopefully it's a WC florida and that makes it a lot better. As for the rest I'll post pics again when they get bigger.

 

[Motoxs3th]

you all are so lucky to have a great selection of gar it must be awesome. enjoy

 

[Polypterus]

will take a look at these more closely tomorrow, but from initial glance, i would say the first pic is a FL gar, but the others are likely shortnose gars with the more unusual higher degree of pattern than the typical shortnoses (these generally end up looking the same as they get older). nice specimens for sure--
--solomon

Solomon-
Put on the to do list Testing for Platyrhincus x Platostomus and Oculatus x Platostomus... Might need to look closer at the Shorts in the shops right now. Not saying it is the case with these fish but is something I do not think we have had on the watch for list. The above shorts have a pattern similar to what we saw with the Wisconsin fish.

 

[Conner]

will take a look at these more closely tomorrow, but from initial glance, i would say the first pic is a FL gar, but the others are likely shortnose gars with the more unusual higher degree of pattern than the typical shortnoses (these generally end up looking the same as they get older). nice specimens for sure--
--solomon

I agree, that first one looks like a normal florida, and the rest look like shortnose to me. They look very similar to some of the shortnose that I had at around 12". The patterns change an amazing amount from 6" to 12", and 12" to 18". You'd swear they weren't even the same fish if you looked back at pictures...

 

[E_americanus]

Solomon-
Put on the to do list Testing for Platyrhincus x Platostomus and Oculatus x Platostomus... Might need to look closer at the Shorts in the shops right now. Not saying it is the case with these fish but is something I do not think we have had on the watch for list. The above shorts have a pattern similar to what we saw with the Wisconsin fish.

good call (conner as well), i don't know where TFD is getting these from, but a wild hybrid of the former doesn't seem likely as they shouldn't be crossing distributions, whereas the latter likely exists in the wild somewhere (albeit a rarer occurrence due to habitat and spawning period separation).

we're getting moving on a lot of this stuff once again this week (we should meet up again sometime soon if possible - unfortunately would have to wait until after this weekend - UM's graduation) --
--solomon

 

[Infblue]

all that being said, no one was necessarily proving you wrong here, and you don't necessarily have irrefutable evidence that you are exactly right. that's the problem with tracking fishes in the hobby vs research...one can seldom accomplish both.

yeah thats the problem. And people tend to overestimate size and growth on these forums, which doesn't help. i see it often enough in the bichir forum where people mention or claim such and such, and for the questionable cases, i just take them with a grain of salt since there's never concrete evidence.

 

[Madding]

you all are so lucky to have a great selection of gar it must be awesome. enjoy

Thanks bro, but don't sound so defeated! I live in New York, and let me tell you, it has not been easy nor cheap to get my hands on any gar aside from florida. For me to acquire a tropical or cuban will take a lot of patience and effort.

Keep your eyes open and your wallet willing and you'll get the gar you want (unless they're illegal wherever you are ).

 

[peewee]

awesome!