ANIMAL: Longnose Gar Lepisosteus osseus Type of Animal: Gar Habitat: Pelagic lake surfaces, rivers, slower river sections, river backwaters, river oxbows, moderately clear streams, marine coastal waters, shallow mud flats, artificial impoundments, areas near downed trees, vegetation, and/or stone outcrops, lazy sluggish slow moving streams, sluggish backwater pools, pool surfaces, backwaters arounds submersed vegetation, reservoirs, bayous, estuaries, clear quick moving high-gradient streams, coastal brackish waters, freshwater streams, freshwater lakes, swamps, sluggish stream backwaters, low inflow pools, large quiet weedy creeks, quiet weedy backwaters, weedy quiet streams, lake backwaters, sluggish river pools, sluggish lake pools, medium to large lake oxbows, vegetated brackish waters, sluggish areas of larger rivers, fresh/brackish larger streams, fresh/brackish coastal inlets, quieter river surfaces, quieter stream surfaces, oxbows along large moderately clear streams, sluggish pools along large moderately clear streams, backwaters along large moderately clear streams, shallow backwaters around thick aquatic vegetation growth Location(s): Found in US as far W as New Mexico. Also found in E Canada as well as N & E Mexico, parts of Central America, Cuba, & Isla de la Juventud. Appearance: Elongated cylindrical fish w/ long snout & prominent teeth Food/Diet: Fish, crustaceans, frogs, snakes, turtles, waterfowl, small mammals, insects, insect larvae Status in Wild: Stable Conservation: Population monitoring Lifestyle: Solitary or small loose schools of 2-5 fish Additional Info: Called: Male Female Young: Fry Group: School Weight: Male: 5-25 lbs Female: 6-50 lbs Gestation: 2 weeks Life Span: 10-30 years Body Length: Male: 2.3-3 ft Female: 3-4.5 ft Young: 10 in Snout Length: 2 ft, same for both sexes Main predators of adults are alligators, eagles, osprey, & bears. Larger fish (including adults of own species), snapping turtles, raptors, herons, cottonmouth, & water snakes prey on juveniles. They’re ambush predators. While adults sometimes used as food fish, eggs highly toxic to humans. Typically spawn in spring w/ multiple males gathering around single female. Large females can lay up to 36,000 eggs. In some areas, pollution, habitat alteration, & overfishing are threats. They’re fairly popular game fish. They’re ambush predators. When prey spotted, they tense body into S-shape & lunge from side, then grabbing it w/ jaws w/ sideways lunge. Maturity reached at 1.5-2 years old, w/ males maturing first. Fun Fact(s): Tough skin reduces likelihood of being eaten. These fish have large swim bladders they fill w/ oxygen by swimming to surface to gulp air, allowing them to live in low-oxygen waters. These fish are believed to have existed back in the Cretaceous Period 145 million years ago.
