Spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 3

• Previous page
• Table of contents
• Next page

Species Information

Name and classification

Description

The spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) is a member of the family Lepisosteidae (Nelson et al. 2004). It is characterized by (Scott and Crossman 1998): a long, narrow body; long, relatively broad snout (length 43.6-82.8% of head length, least width 9.9-16.0% of snout length); short, deep caudal peduncle (least depth 43.4-49.4% of caudal peduncle length); and rounded, abbreviate heterocercal caudal fin (Figure 1). The body of the spotted gar is olive-green to velvety brown above the lateral line, has a lateral band with a narrow reddish stripe, and is a dull silvery colour below the lateral line. Brown spots are present on the snout, head, body and fins.

Figure 1. The spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus). Illustration by Joe Tomelleri. Used with permission of DFO.

The spotted gar is one of two native gar species found in Canada (Scott and Crossman 1998). In comparison to the longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus), the spotted gar has a shorter, wider snout (Figure 2) and a shorter, deeper caudal peduncle (Scott and Crossman 1998). It should be noted that both species are spotted, and this character should not be used to distinguish between them.

Figure 2. Differences in snout length and width in similar-sized longnose gar (top) and spotted gar (bottom) collected in RondeauBay, 2002. Photo by Jason Barnucz, DFO.

The exotic Florida gar (Lepisosteus platyrhinchus) has also been collected in the Great Lakes basin, undoubtedly the result of release from aquaria (Cudmore-Vokey and Crossman 2002). The spotted gar closely resembles the Florida gar, but has bony, translucent plates on the isthmus between the gill openings, which are absent in the Florida gar (Page and Burr 1991).

Designatable units

All Canadian populations are found within the Great Lakes-Western St. Lawrence ecozone of the freshwater ecozone classification adopted by COSEWIC. The population structure within this ecozone is unknown.