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Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Longnose gar
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Lepisosteus osseus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Holostei (gars and bowfins) > Lepisosteiformes (Gars) > Lepisosteidae (Gars)
Etymology: Lepisosteus: Greek, lepis = scale + Greek, osteon = bone; bony sacled (Ref. 45335);  osseus: From the word osseus, meaning bony (Ref. 10294).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; pH range: 7.0 - 25.0; dH range: 10 - 15; depth range 0 - ? m (Ref. 55225), usually 0 - ? m (Ref. 55225). Subtropical; 12°C - 20°C (Ref. 2060); 48°N - 23°N, 99°W - 69°W (Ref. 55225)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North and Central America: Atlantic Slope from Delaware River in New Jersey to central Florisa; St. Lawrence River in Quebec through Great Lakes and Mississippi River basin to Red River (Hudson Bay basin), North Dakota, and south to Louisiana; Gulf Slope drainages from central Florida to Rio Grande drainage in Texas and Mexico.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 66.9  range ? - 80 cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 17.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 22.8 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 36 years (Ref. 12193)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 6 - 9; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10. Long narrow snout. Olivaceous brown above and white below. Dark spots on median fins and on body (Ref. 37032). Scales ganoid: thin bony scutes on leading edges of unpaired fins, and on both edges of caudal fin (Ref. 4639).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Adults occur in sluggish pools, backwaters and oxbows of medium to large rivers, and lakes (Ref. 10294). Usually found near vegetation. Occasionally found in brackish waters. Spawning occur in freshwater and possibly slightly brackish water (Ref. 4639). Migrate up rivers during the spawning season (Ref. 4639). Eggs and larvae are demersal and adhesive (Ref. 4639). Voracious predator, feeding on various fishes and crustaceans. The roe is poisonous.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Wiley, Ed | Collaborators

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea and W.B. Scott, 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. (20):183 p. (Ref. 3814)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 14 November 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Other





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
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References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5781   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00302 (0.00121 - 0.00751), b=3.18 (2.96 - 3.40), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.73 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 9.5 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=3-6; tmax=36; Fec=1,110).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (63 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 36.9 [20.7, 68.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.887 [0.535, 1.485] mg/100g; Protein = 18.7 [17.7, 19.6] %; Omega3 = 0.266 [0.160, 0.452] g/100g; Selenium = 48.4 [27.2, 91.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.85 [2.62, 18.68] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.456 [0.333, 0.653] mg/100g (wet weight);