| PHYLUM:
Chordata; CLASS: Osteichthyes; SUPERORDER: Teleostei
FAMILY: Lepisosteidae
GENUS:
Lepisosteus SPECIES: osseus DESCRIBER:
(Linnaeus)
Position
of Lepisosteus
osseus in
worldwide arrangement of fish species.
What
are LONGNOSE
GARS?
Longnose
Gars are long, cylindrical, tree limb-like shaped,
60–90 cm (2-3 feet), fishes
in the family Lepisosteidae. They have heads with long,
narrow pointed snouts with noses at tip; sharp teeth
are abundant along their entire snout; and bony scutes
on leading edges of unpaired fins and on both edges caudal
fin. They are olive-brown to dark green on their backs;
pale green or silver on their sides; and white on their
bellies. Longnose
Gars are found
from Montana eastward to Québec. Longnose
Gar eat most species
of fish and most anything else large enough. (See: Fishbase)
EARLY
LIFE HISTORY of LONGNOSE
GARS:
Spawning
Season of Adult LONGNOSE GAR: Late spring to
early summer, May to June with temperatures from
19° to
21°.
Where LONGNOSE GAR Eggs are Found: Adult LONGNOSE
GAR gather in large numbers in little inlets and
pockets along shorelines in shallow water. They were
observed in Georgian Bay gathering in water which
was ca. 20 cm deep. They broadcast their adhesive
eggs over weedy shallow shoals, windswept shorelines
and/or along rocky points. Eggs adhere to the submersed
aquatic vegetation in these areas.
Characteristics
of Eggs: Demersal, adhesive, diameter of eggs 3.3
to 5.5 mm, laid as creamish
yellow eggs but water-hardened eggs
turn
color to greenish
yellow
to greenish
brown.
Size
of Babies at Hatching: 8
to 10 mm with an adhesive disc on the tip of their
snout after 5 to 8 days of incubation.
Movements of LONGNOSE GAR Babies after hatching: Baby
LONGNOSE GARS hatch and swim around a little searching
for aquatic plants. They stick on to an aquatic
plant with their paired adhesive glands on the
tip of their snouts, remaining there while they
absorb their yolk materials. (Paired
cement glands in rostro-nasal position excrete an
elastic connection between the baby and nearby plants.
Gar babies spend the yolk sac stage in a motionless
position attached to plants. The cement organs consist
of two rostro-lateral areas which have a striking
sculptured surface. The glandular cells are of the
high prismatic type with basic nuclei and granulae
in the apical parts. The granulae are already reduced
in size and number after hatching.) Baby
LONGNOSE GAR then swim away from where they were
attached but remain in shallow water along shores
of lakes and rivers in small numbers, as individuals
not in schools.
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