Should I put a shortnose in my pond???
- Thread starter Conner
- Start date
I guess that's what it is, except that they seem to be doing it as equals, with neither one being overtly dominant. I saw them do it twice more yesterday, and each time a different gar started the display. Weird.
I've just never seen them interact like this before. I guess because they've been crammed in the aquarium, they didn't have space to have territory? Do gars get territorial, or just have a dominance heirarchy?
I've just never seen them interact like this before. I guess because they've been crammed in the aquarium, they didn't have space to have territory? Do gars get territorial, or just have a dominance heirarchy?
hey Conner,
you are describing a social pattern (and possible dominance) of behavior we have seen in gars. they do this in the wild, as we've seen massive groups of shortnoses and some longnoses doing this, and several of my gars used to do this in GDII.
it's likely tied with dominance in some way, but also may just be a sort of "socializing" aspect of gar behavior. in a more apparent dominance behavior, if one gar starts chasing after another and the other one actually starts swimming away, the chaser will keep in pursuit (kind of like how if you run from a standing position near a dog, the dog will usually give chase).
interesting behavior for sure...unfortunately we don't know a whole lot more about what it all means!--
--solomon
you are describing a social pattern (and possible dominance) of behavior we have seen in gars. they do this in the wild, as we've seen massive groups of shortnoses and some longnoses doing this, and several of my gars used to do this in GDII.
it's likely tied with dominance in some way, but also may just be a sort of "socializing" aspect of gar behavior. in a more apparent dominance behavior, if one gar starts chasing after another and the other one actually starts swimming away, the chaser will keep in pursuit (kind of like how if you run from a standing position near a dog, the dog will usually give chase).
interesting behavior for sure...unfortunately we don't know a whole lot more about what it all means!--
--solomon
Conner;4329353; said:I find it really interesting, since they've been living together without any of this kind of behavior until I moved them into the pond. I'm tempted to put the other two shorties out there just to see if that changes the dynamic any...
i'm sure the others would show some similar behavior as well. as you had mentioned before, it was probably due to space that you didn't see it as much. i still see it from time to time in my tank, but the gars have gotten larger and i have less time to watch them (both may contribute to not seeing it as much recently). yours have a lot of open space now so the behavior is more evident and observable.--
--solomon
