Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus
Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Fish caught out of the Santee River, South Carolina, August 2010. Total length 97 cm (3 feet 2 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Fish caught from an irrigation canal in Tampa, Florida, August 2018. Length: 1.05 m (3 feet 5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Fish caught out of an estuary in Bayport, Minnesota, August 2015. Total length: 1.75 m (5 feet 9 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Fish caught from the Grand River, Allendale, Michigan, August 2020. Length: 1.1 m (3 feet 7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Marc Eberlein, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Fish caught from a freshwater stream in Puerto Chomes, Costa Rica, March 2021. Length: 1.10 m (3 feet 7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Fish caught from a freshwater drainage systems of Sebastian, Florida, April 2021. Length: 1.18 m (3 feet 11 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.
The Longnose Gar, Lepiosteus osseus, is a member of the Gar or Lepisosteidae Family, that is also known as the Needlenose Gar and in Mexico as catán aguja. The gars are scientifically interesting as they are very primitive and date to the Cretaceous Period, 145 to 66 million years ago. There are currently seven living gars that have been placed in two genera of which four species are in the genus Lepisosteus, with one, this species, being found in in the freshwater systems of Mexico that feed into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Longnose Gar has an elongated and torpedo-shaped body. They are olive-brown dorsally and transition to white ventrally. They vary in color based on the water quality with fish from clear water being much deeper green than those from murky water which are drab brown. They have spots on their anal, dorsal, and caudal fins, as well as on their upper back. Juveniles have a black stripe on their sides. They have a long narrow snout that is nearly twice the length of the head. They are equipped with a single row of long sharp villiform teeth. Their anal fin and their single dorsal fin are set well back on the body and have 8 to 10 rays and 6 to 9 rays, respectively; and, their pectoral fins are low on the body and their pelvic fins are in the middle of the belly. There have scutes on the leading edges of their unpaired fins and on both edges of their caudal fin. They have 14 to 31 gill rakers. They are covered with thick overlapping scales with black margins, which provide them with a suit of armor and allow adults to be free from predation.
The Longnose Gar is found at depths up to 9 m (30 feet) primarily in large weedy lakes and reservoirs, backwaters and quiet pools of medium to large rivers, stagnant ponds, sloughs, canals, brackish waters of coastal inlets, and occasionally in coastal marine waters; they are often found near vegetation or close to submerged or overhanging objects by day. They are slow growing and can reach 2.0 m (6 feet 8 inches) in length and 22.8 kg (50 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 22.7 kg (50 lbs 0 oz) with the fish caught in the Trinity River in Texas in July 1954. Young tend to occupy shallows, whereas larger individuals are found in deeper water. They prefer water temperatures between 12oC (54oF) and 20oC (68oF). They are sexually dimorphic with females being larger than males in length and weight and living about two times longer. They are nighttime ambush predators that lie in wait and consume small fish (sunfish, catfish, crayfish), insects, and small crustaceans. They are also known to practice cannibalism. Their only known predator is the American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis. As such they are an important apex predator in many ecosystems. Fish will migrate from brackish water to fresh water for spawning. Each female can lay up to 30,000 eggs annually. The eggs and larvae are demersal and adhesive; they attach themselves to shallow water substrates including stones and plant life. They have a toxic coating to help avoid predation. They have the ability to survive in higher salinity waters than most fish and in low oxygen waters as they can gulp air due to their modified swim bladder. They have a lifespan of up to thirty-six years.
The Longnose Gar is a resident of Mexican waters but has a limited distribution being found in coastal brackish waters and within the freshwater systems that drain into the Gulf of Mexico from Tuxpan, Veracruz, northward to the United States border.
The Longnose Gar is straightforward to identify due to the length of its snout which is more than twice the length of the head and its diamond-shaped interlocking scales, thus it cannot easily be confused with any other species. The Alligator Gar, Atractosteus spatula, is somewhat similar but has a double row of teeth on its upper jaw.
From a conservation perspective the Longnose Gar is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations that are estimated to be in excess of 100,000 individuals. Although widespread, there is a long-term concern for the survival of the species due to overfishing and human-caused habitat destruction. The Longnose Gar is sought after on a limited basis by recreational anglers, including bow fishermen, but are generally regarded as nuisance fish. They were an important source of food for Native Americans and early colonists. They can be found in large public aquariums as they are hardy and easy to maintain.