Types of gar

The alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) is a ray-finned euryhaline fish related to the bowfin in the infraclass Holostei (ho'-las-te-i). It is the largest species in the gar family, and among the largest freshwater fishes in North America.

The Cuban gar (Atractosteus tristoechus) is a fish in the family Lepisosteidae. It is found in Western Cuba and the Isla de la Juventud. The flesh of the fish is edible but the eggs are poisonous for humans.

The Florida gar (Lepisosteus platyrhincus) is a species of gar found in the USA from the Savannah River and Ochlockonee River watersheds of Georgia and throughout peninsular Florida.Florida gars can reach a length of over 3 ft (91 cm). The young feed on zooplankton and insect larvae, as well as small fish.Adults mainly eat fish, shrimp, and crayfish.. Although edible, they are not popular as f

The longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus) is a primitive ray-finned fish of the gar family. It is also known as the needlenose gar. L. osseus is found along the east coast of North and Central America in freshwater lakes and as far west as Kansas and Texas and southern New Mexico.

Due to larger size and ganoid scaling the adult longnose gar has very few predators. In southern regions of the longnose gars range it is preyed upon by the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Taxonomy. Linnaeus first described the longnose gar in 1758. The type locality was in Virginia. Linnaeus gave the longnose gar the name Esox osseus.

The spotted gar is native to North America and its current range is from southern Ontario to the west from the Nueces River in Texas east to the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and southeast to the lower Apalachicola River in Florida. The gar population is small in the north and is being threatened in Lake Erie by the destruction of their habitat and pollution. The gar is more common in ...

The tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) is a fish found in freshwaters from southern Mexico to Costa Rica, reported to reach lengths of up to 1.25 m in the wild (albeit often much smaller in captivity).