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Illustration credit: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation |
Longnose Gar
Scientific Name: Lepisosteus osseus
"Lepisosteus" is Latin for scales of bone; "osseus" means bony in Latin.
Gar means "spear" in old Anglo-Saxon, a reference to its snout.
Longnose gar look prehistoric, and indeed have lived relatively unchanged in North America for 50 million years. They are unique in having tough, shell-like, diamond-shaped scales, and an ability to breathe air using an adapted swim bladder. As a result, they can survive in low-oxygen conditions for long periods of time.
Gar can grow quickly and get quite large, and with their armoured scales become invulnerable to predation. Like Northern pike and muskellunge, they are an ambush predator that uses its rear fins to generate quick bursts of speed. They like to move sideways towards their prey, looking like a stick floating in the current, until they grab their prey with a sideways flick of their beak. (Watch a YouTube video of a gar feeding.)
The eggs of longnose gar are poisonous to people, other mammals and birds, but not to other fish. Gar serve as hosts to the parasitic young of the yellow sandshell, a freshwater mussel native to the Lake Erie watershed. A similar fish, the spotted gar, is also found in Ontario, but it is uncommon, and limited to the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario watersheds.
Description
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| Longnose gar swimming on the surface. Photo credit : Andrew Bunker |
- Long and cylindrical
- Small head with long, narrow jaw twice the length of the head
- Many needle-like teeth
- Dorsal fin placed near the tail
- Olive to brown back with a white belly
- May have spots on sides, fins and tail
- Young fish have a blackish lateral band
Similar To
- spotted gar
- Northern pike
- muskellunge
Key Identifying Features
- Fewer spots than spotted gar
- Longer, thinner beak than spotted gar
- Caudal peduncle (tail) narrower and longer than spotted gar
Size
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Ontario range of the longnose gar. Modified from Mandrak and Crossman, 1992 |
- Females: 51.3 to 125.7 cm (20.2 to 49.5 in.); males 44.2 to 102.9 cm (17.4 to 40.5 in.)
- Average weight range of adult fish: 0.8 to 6.8 kg (1.8 to 14.9 lb.)
- Ontario record: weight – 7.2 kg (15.8 lb.); length – 129.5 cm (51.0 in.); Ottawa River
Distribution and Habitat
- Found from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi River, and throughout their watersheds, although very limited in Lake Superior
- Generally found in larger rivers and lakes, usually near the surface
- Prefers warm, shallow areas of weak to no current, including vegetated harbours, bays, oxbows and other backwaters
- As a warmwater species, longnose gar may increase its range as waters warm due to climate change
Food
- Juveniles: plankton, aquatic insects, small crustaceans
- Adults: mostly fish, including minnows, suckers and sunfish, but will take crayfish and frogs
- Primarily a night feeder
Predators
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Angler with longnose gar. Photo credit: Matt Garvin |
- Larger fishes and osprey on juveniles
- Parasites, including yellow sandshell young
- Humans
Reproduction
- Spawning occurs from late spring to early summer
- Some gar migrate into smaller streams to spawn
- Spawning occurs over a variety of substrates, from rocks and gravel to dense vegetation
- A number of males spawn with each female within the water column, and the sticky eggs adhere to rocks, roots or vegetation
- Gar have been known to lay eggs in smallmouth bass nests, gaining protection from the male bass
- Very young gar have an adhesive disk on the top of their head which anchors them to an object until their yolk sac is absorbed
- Gar grow very quickly, reaching lengths of up to 44-51 cm. (17-20 in.) in their first year
Management Tips
- Protect habitat and habitat quality
- River blockages should be discouraged where spawning runs are known to occur
- Consider use of eel ladders where blockages are unavoidable
- Use "best management practices" with respect to urban and rural development, agriculture, forestry and other industry
- Ensure that septic systems are working properly
- Anglers should be discouraged from leaving gar on shore to die
- Respect recreational and commercial fishing regulations
- While considered a nuisance by some, gar are an integral and successful part of Ontario’s aquatic biodiversity, and with the right fishing techniques can provide a high-quality angling experience
