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What the hell is that???

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

x-frog

New Member
Sep 19, 2004
45
5
0
What fish is that??
2004HD29t.jpg
 
Hi x-frog!

how about posting a larger picture! Its too small for recognition!
 
Thats a freshwater alligator gar. Toothy prehistoric creatures with scales like armor. Heres on David Duzait got a couple of weeks ago...
 

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the tail and body resembles pike but the pre-historic version I guess..
 
Sorry for the size of the pick.......is this thing aggressive?? looks like a kind of mean Cuda-crock , whatever....:D
 
Not agressive that I know of, but you will see them at the edge of salt water. A long time ago a 6 foot version came up behind me on the jetty at Orange Beach Alabama. High tide, clear water, full salt. At the time he was at least 3 feet longer than the biggest fish I'd ever seen underwater.

Connor
 
never heard of them as threatened before...they are all over here but maybe thats a local thing. Need to check into that. Thanks for the links.
 
Rig, then comes the next question: how do they taste on the BBQ slathered with hickory seasoning and with a few beers with the fellas?
 
There's a couple of links off that second site worth a look at, they also say its an endangered species :( (maybe time to start spreading the word?) also very interesting is that native Americans used the scales as arrowheads because they're so hard!
 
definately not endagered species...somebody is using the wrong terminology. If it were endangered it would be a no take species and they dont even have limits on gar. No size or bag limits....
 
thats funny...the only place that said anything questionable about their status was the "official looking" site run by an enviornmental group. The info from the Texas department of Wildlife(a real government agency) had nothing to say about being threatened or endangered.
 
The info from the Texas department of Wildlife(a real government agency) had nothing to say about being threatened or endangered.

perhaps they gain money from fishing tourism - or perhaps have no idea.
 
I would say that maybe the fish itself is not endangered,but the habitat that it lives in is probably the thing that is dissappearing faster.
also this fish belongs to a family of fish which are literally living dinosaurs, the scales are different from most fish, instead of being cycloid ie laid down in rings they are ganoid click here to see the scales
I think that the roe in these fish is poisonous, so be warned.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by island_sands
perhaps they gain money from fishing tourism - or perhaps have no idea.

if it were an endangered species, these would be the people in charge of protecting it. There is no dollars to be made off gar, they are considered trash fish and rarely targeted. Like I said, if were an endangered or even an officially listed "threatened" species we wouldnt be allowed to touch one.
 
here is the official list of all threatened and endangered fish in the US...
Fishes
Status Species Name
T Catfish, Yaqui ( Ictalurus pricei)
E Cavefish, Alabama ( Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni)
T Cavefish, Ozark ( Amblyopsis rosae)
E Chub, bonytail ( Gila elegans)
E Chub, Borax Lake ( Gila boraxobius)
T Chub, Chihuahua ( Gila nigrescens)
E Chub, humpback ( Gila cypha)
T Chub, Hutton tui ( Gila bicolor ssp.)
E Chub, Mohave tui ( Gila bicolor mohavensis)
E Chub, Oregon ( Oregonichthys crameri)
E Chub, Owens tui ( Gila bicolor snyderi)
E Chub, Pahranagat roundtail ( Gila robusta jordani)
T Chub, slender ( Erimystax cahni)
T Chub, Sonora ( Gila ditaenia)
XN,T Chub, spotfin ( Cyprinella monacha)
E Chub, Virgin River ( Gila seminuda (=robusta))
E Chub, Yaqui ( Gila purpurea)
E Cui-ui ( Chasmistes cujus)
E Dace, Ash Meadows speckled ( Rhinichthys osculus nevadensis)
T Dace, blackside ( Phoxinus cumberlandensis)
E Dace, Clover Valley speckled ( Rhinichthys osculus oligoporus)
T Dace, desert ( Eremichthys acros)
T Dace, Foskett speckled ( Rhinichthys osculus ssp.)
E Dace, Independence Valley speckled ( Rhinichthys osculus lethoporus)
E Dace, Kendall Warm Springs ( Rhinichthys osculus thermalis)
E Dace, Moapa ( Moapa coriacea)
E Darter, amber ( Percina antesella)
T Darter, bayou ( Etheostoma rubrum)
E Darter, bluemask (=jewel) ( Etheostoma /)
E Darter, boulder ( Etheostoma wapiti)
T Darter, Cherokee ( Etheostoma scotti)
E,XN Darter, duskytail ( Etheostoma percnurum)
E Darter, Etowah ( Etheostoma etowahae)
E Darter, fountain ( Etheostoma fonticola)
T Darter, goldline ( Percina aurolineata)
T Darter, leopard ( Percina pantherina)
E Darter, Maryland ( Etheostoma sellare)
T Darter, Niangua ( Etheostoma nianguae)
E Darter, Okaloosa ( Etheostoma okaloosae)
E Darter, relict ( Etheostoma chienense)
T Darter, slackwater ( Etheostoma boschungi)
T Darter, snail ( Percina tanasi)
E Darter, vermilion ( Etheostoma chermocki)
E Darter, watercress ( Etheostoma nuchale)
E Gambusia, Big Bend ( Gambusia gaigei)
E Gambusia, Clear Creek ( Gambusia heterochir)
E Gambusia, Pecos ( Gambusia nobilis)
E Gambusia, San Marcos ( Gambusia georgei)
E Goby, tidewater ( Eucyclogobius newberryi)
E Logperch, Conasauga ( Percina jenkinsi)
E Logperch, Roanoke ( Percina rex)
T Madtom, Neosho ( Noturus placidus)
E Madtom, pygmy ( Noturus stanauli)
E Madtom, Scioto ( Noturus trautmani)
E,XN Madtom, smoky ( Noturus baileyi)
XN,T Madtom, yellowfin ( Noturus flavipinnis)
T Minnow, Devils River ( Dionda diaboli)
T Minnow, loach ( Tiaroga cobitis)
E Minnow, Rio Grande silvery ( Hybognathus amarus)
E,XN Pikeminnow (=squawfish), Colorado ( Ptychocheilus lucius)
E Poolfish, Pahrump ( Empetrichthys latos)
E Pupfish, Ash Meadows Amargosa ( Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes)
E Pupfish, Comanche Springs ( Cyprinodon elegans)
E Pupfish, desert ( Cyprinodon macularius)
E Pupfish, Devils Hole ( Cyprinodon diabolis)
E Pupfish, Leon Springs ( Cyprinodon bovinus)
E Pupfish, Owens ( Cyprinodon radiosus)
E Pupfish, Warm Springs ( Cyprinodon nevadensis pectoralis)
E Salmon, Atlantic ( Salmo salar)
E,T Salmon, chinook ( Oncorhynchus (=Salmo) tshawytscha)
T Salmon, chum ( Oncorhynchus (=Salmo) keta)
T Salmon, coho ( Oncorhynchus (=Salmo) kisutch)
E,T Salmon, sockeye ( Oncorhynchus (=Salmo) nerka)
T Sculpin, pygmy ( Cottus paulus (=pygmaeus))
T Shiner, Arkansas River ( Notropis girardi)
T Shiner, beautiful ( Cyprinella formosa)
T Shiner, blue ( Cyprinella caerulea)
E Shiner, Cahaba ( Notropis cahabae)
E Shiner, Cape Fear ( Notropis mekistocholas)
E Shiner, palezone ( Notropis albizonatus)
T Shiner, Pecos bluntnose ( Notropis simus pecosensis)
E Shiner, Topeka ( Notropis topeka (=tristis))
T Silverside, Waccamaw ( Menidia extensa)
T Smelt, delta ( Hypomesus transpacificus)
T Spikedace ( Meda fulgida)
T Spinedace, Big Spring ( Lepidomeda mollispinis pratensis)
T Spinedace, Little Colorado ( Lepidomeda vittata)
E Spinedace, White River ( Lepidomeda albivallis)
E Springfish, Hiko White River ( Crenichthys baileyi grandis)
T Springfish, Railroad Valley ( Crenichthys nevadae)
E Springfish, White River ( Crenichthys baileyi baileyi)
E,T Steelhead ( Oncorhynchus (=Salmo) mykiss)
E Stickleback, unarmored threespine ( Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni)
E Sturgeon, Alabama ( Scaphirhynchus suttkusi)
T Sturgeon, gulf ( Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi)
E Sturgeon, pallid ( Scaphirhynchus albus)
E Sturgeon, shortnose ( Acipenser brevirostrum)
E Sturgeon, white ( Acipenser transmontanus)
E Sucker, June ( Chasmistes liorus)
E Sucker, Lost River ( Deltistes luxatus)
E Sucker, Modoc ( Catostomus microps)
E Sucker, razorback ( Xyrauchen texanus)
T Sucker, Santa Ana ( Catostomus santaanae)
E Sucker, shortnose ( Chasmistes brevirostris)
T Sucker, Warner ( Catostomus warnerensis)
E Topminnow, Gila (incl. Yaqui) ( Poeciliopsis occidentalis)
T Trout, Apache ( Oncorhynchus apache)
T Trout, bull ( Salvelinus confluentus)
E Trout, Gila ( Oncorhynchus gilae)
T Trout, greenback cutthroat ( Oncorhynchus clarki stomias)
T Trout, Lahontan cutthroat ( Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi)
T Trout, Little Kern golden ( Oncorhynchus aguabonita whitei)
T Trout, Paiute cutthroat ( Oncorhynchus clarki seleniris)
E,XN Woundfin ( Plagopterus argentissimus)

notice gar isnt one of them
 
Rig, but you havent answered my question: how do they taste on the bbq?? :p
 
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