Spotted gar - breathe above the water?

[Polypterus]

I am inclined to say that your post doesn't make any sense, but I am trying my hardest to fathom it. the op clearly believes that gar do better just breathing air. they don't.

there is a big difference between gars gulping air and other species like catfish that can live for 6 or 7 hours out of the water.

The OP here is quite knowledgeable about Gars and their biology and has had great luck with his Spatula.. He was asking if Spotteds need as much of an airspace as Spatula due to not really seeing his new fish surface as much.. He was not even insinuating that the fish are better "just breathing air"..

Gee How do I know.. I can read Slovak... Which is why often if I answer his questions I do so in Slovak also... So the Translation is clear. Online translators are often awful.. OP knows this also which is why he always retains the whole question in his Mother tongue.

Yeesh I'm hating the internet this week....

 

[E_americanus]

No, they don't breathe air very efficiently. And they are a lot less resilient than alligator gar. They could survive a couple of hours max out of the water. They also don't mix well with Spatulas, the alligator gar will tend to hog all the food and keep them from eating. that has been my experience.

if you keep them together, you will end up spending a lot of time making sure that the smaller or less aggressive fish get a decent amount to eat.

the translation on your post is a bit off, so I hope you get the gist of my message. I wouldn't personally keep them together unless I had a huge tank or pond and the resources to let them live an almost natural course of existence.

BTW Wiggles, I am not contradicting you, I am just trying to be a bit more specific. Their primary means of getting oxygen is through their gills, not gulping air now and then.

yeah, the stuff highlighted is not correct.--
--solomon

PS-- nor is the comment on their living 50 years compared to captive conditions gibberish.

 

[Wiggles92]

Just a quick recap: While all gars are technically considered to be facultative air breathers (i.e. only breathing air when necessary) they tend to function as obligate air breathers (i.e. absolutely must breathe air to survive) in captivity due to the lower levels of oxygen in the water that they are kept in. In fact, they tend to rely on air obtained from the surface rather than air obtained via their gills in most conditions in the wild, too.

 

[E_americanus]

Just a quick recap: While all gars are technically considered to be facultative air breathers (i.e. only breathing air when necessary) they tend to function as obligate air breathers (i.e. absolutely must breathe air to survive) in captivity due to the lower levels of oxygen in the water that they are kept in. In fact, they tend to rely on air obtained from the surface rather than air obtained via their gills in most conditions in the wild, too.

a few things to note here/clarify:

- gars don't turn to obligate air-breathers in captivity due to lower levels of dissolved O2 per se...they are obligate air-breathers because the temps are warmer (hence lower O2 and higher metabolic costs) and activity is higher than the levels at which they can use aquatic respiration. this is the same scenario in the wild...the waters that gars often inhabit are very low in O2 in general, not just in comparison with captive conditions. in fact, in captive conditions in many cases it is easier to keep water better aerated because of surface agitation from filters, etc etc (compared to slow-moving/stagnant waters in some wild habitats).

- also important to note that there is a difference between atmospheric O2 acquisition ("air-breathing"), dissolved O2 acquisition (aquatic respiration), and a third method which is somewhat a variation on the latter, which is aquatic surface respiration (will have to look up the exact phrase, but it's in Graham's air-breathing fishes book). this is what many fishes do (goldfish/carp are a good example) where they gulp "air" at the water's surface...they aren't really breathing air, but they are breathing dissolved O2 from the much more O2-rich layer of water right at the surface (compared to further below the surface/farther depths).

--solomon

 

[Wiggles92]

a few things to note here/clarify:

- gars don't turn to obligate air-breathers in captivity due to lower levels of dissolved O2 per se...they are obligate air-breathers because the temps are warmer (hence lower O2 and higher metabolic costs) and activity is higher than the levels at which they can use aquatic respiration. this is the same scenario in the wild...the waters that gars often inhabit are very low in O2 in general, not just in comparison with captive conditions. in fact, in captive conditions in many cases it is easier to keep water better aerated because of surface agitation from filters, etc etc (compared to slow-moving/stagnant waters in some wild habitats).

- also important to note that there is a difference between atmospheric O2 acquisition ("air-breathing"), dissolved O2 acquisition (aquatic respiration), and a third method which is somewhat a variation on the latter, which is aquatic surface respiration (will have to look up the exact phrase, but it's in Graham's air-breathing fishes book). this is what many fishes do (goldfish/carp are a good example) where they gulp "air" at the water's surface...they aren't really breathing air, but they are breathing dissolved O2 from the much more O2-rich layer of water right at the surface (compared to further below the surface/farther depths).

--solomon

Ah, gotcha. I knew that I oversimplified that too much and left some important details out, but I couldn't determine exactly what those details were... I just remembered that you had mentioned in a previous thread that gars tended to be obligate air breathers in captivity and in the wild despite technically being considered facultative air breathers, and I knew that it had something to do with oxygen levels (forgot about the other important factors). I think that it's time to go to sleep since I'm leaving out important details now...

 

[HungDang]

so Spotted gar can breath air like some cat fish, gator gar, and Arapaima do? Some time those fish that can breath into air don't do that often all might not do that at all because of the water having too much oxygen, or there are some air supplies in the water( like air stone) that the fish can take air directly from them!
I've seen my plecos, gouramies, snake head stop breathing into the air at the surface when I have a lot of air stone in the tank!

 

[E_americanus]

so Spotted gar can breath air like some cat fish, gator gar, and Arapaima do? Some time those fish that can breath into air don't do that often all might not do that at all because of the water having too much oxygen, or there are some air supplies in the water( like air stone) that the fish can take air directly from them!
I've seen my plecos, gouramies, snake head stop breathing into the air at the surface when I have a lot of air stone in the tank!

all true gars, members of Lepisosteidae are air-breathers, and in most conditions are obligate air-breathers. you have noticed that these fish and several other groups/species which are air-breathers sometimes don't go up for air as much (or in some cases at all)...these are scenarios where there is enough dissolved oxygen in the water to meet their metabolic costs at the time. so yes, enough water movement in a tank can contribute to high enough O2 levels where those fish don't need to surface as much/at all. with any air-breathing fish, however, it's good to make sure there is a gap at the surface of the tank where they can breathe air if necessary--
--solomon

 

[fishwhisperer]

the OP asked,

My question is:
Spotted gar also needs to breathe above the water? It is the same behavior and breathing as Alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula)?

so to answer the question, yes they do like to gulp, i find that in stressfull situations like new tank or anything like that it is much better for them. but if u have extreme aeration they will gulp less, not to say that your tank should b 100% full if uv got a big bubbler

 

[rostratusgar]

Hi friends. Sorry for my translation. I am glad that you at least understand a little bit. The language barrier is difficult for me.

You are answered me to my question. I am grateful. Significant knowledge you have written. Thank you. Here is my Gar.I thought it was Spotted gar. But this is Florida gar

 

[floridagar]

Yeah i agree with the statement above, Enough water movement at that top obviously creates more Oxygen in the water but i also have a question does the time in between each time a Gar goes to the top to gather O2 fluctuate depending on the amount of water movement on the surface?

Nice little guy he looks very cool.