About Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The longnose gar, with the scientific name Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus, 1758), is also commonly called longnose garpike or billy gar. It is a ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lepisosteidae. The genus Lepisosteus may have existed in North America for around 100 million years. Gars are referred to as a primitive group of bony fish because they have kept certain primitive traits, such as a spiral valve intestine, but they are not considered primitive in the sense of being underdeveloped. This species has an olive brown to green, torpedo-shaped body covered in hard ganoid scales. It has elongated jaws that form a needle-like snout, which is nearly three times as long as the rest of its head, and a row of many sharp, cone-shaped teeth on each side of the upper jaw. Longnose gar usually live in freshwater lakes, brackish water near coastal areas, swamps, and slow-moving backwaters of rivers and streams. They can breathe both air and water, which lets them survive in aquatic environments with low oxygen levels. Their modern range extends along the east coasts of North and Central America, and reaches as far west in the United States as Kansas, Texas, and southern New Mexico. They are the only species in the family Lepisosteidae that lives in New Mexico. Their populations are stable, and are even abundant in some interior parts of their current range. Fossils of the genus Lepisosteus that are 100 million years old have been found across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. In the United States, fossils of the modern longnose gar species date back to the Pleistocene epoch. They have been found in the Kingsdown Formation in Meade County, Kansas, and date to the Irvingtonian stage between 1.8 and 0.3 million years ago. Modern longnose gar are found in North America, Central America, Cuba, and Isla de la Juventud. They are most common in fresh water across the eastern half of the United States, but individual gar have been recorded in waters with salinities as high as 31 ppt. Their preferred microhabitats are areas near downed trees, stone outcrops, and aquatic vegetation. The most common prey of longnose gar are small fish; they will occasionally also eat insects and small crustaceans, and they mostly feed at night. In most studies of adult longnose gar, the diet is made up of a mix of different prey species, and the dominant prey type changes between locations. In Lake Texoma, inland silversides made up 84% of the diet of juvenile gar, while gamefishes accounted for less than 1% of juvenile diet there. In Florida, the diet of longnose gar is mainly made up of fish, with gizzard shad, bullhead catfish, and small bluegill being particularly common prey. In Missouri, fish make up 98% of the species' diet, with shiners being the most common prey. In some lakes, adult longnose gar may eat large numbers of sunfish. Along coastal areas, menhaden are a major food source for longnose gar. In these areas, longnose gar move toward bayou mouths into higher-salinity waters during the afternoon and evening to hunt this abundant prey, then return up bayous to lower-salinity waters in the morning. The main competitors of longnose gar are other garfish, and large longnose gar quite commonly prey on smaller gar individuals. Historically, Native Americans and early European colonists harvested longnose gar as a main food source. Over time, longnose gar have become more popular as a sportfish rather than a food source, though some people still consider gar meat a delicacy. Adult longnose gar are apex predators in their aquatic habitats, so they have very few natural predators. Only humans and, in the southern parts of the species' range, American alligators prey on adult longnose gar. Young longnose gar are much more vulnerable to predation; they are hunted by other garfishes, larger fish, birds of prey, snapping turtles, and water snakes.
