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" Rough Fish Identification "

Gar ( Short nose )

Description - They have irregular round, black spots on the top of the head and over the entire body and on all the fins. Other gars, except for spotted gars, have spots on the fins and usually on the posterior part of the body. They can be distinguished from other gars, such as spotted gars, by the distance from the front of the eye to the back of the gill cover. In Florida gars, the distance is less than two-thirds the length of the snout. In spotted gars, the distance is more than two-thirds the length of the snout. Other characteristics of Florida gars include a shorter, broader snout with a single row of irregularly spaced sharp teeth on both upper and lower jaws and no bony scales on the throat. The coloration is olive-brown along the back and upper sides with a white-to-yellow belly. The young sometimes have dark stripes along back and sides.

Gar ( Long nose )

Description - They are olive-brown or deep green along the back and upper sides, with silver-white bellies. There are a few irregular, large dark spots on the body. The young display scattered spots over both sides, the upper and lower jaws and on their ventral fins. The longnose is generally distinguished from other gars by its longer, more slender body, and especially by its longer, narrower snout. The snout is twice the length of the rest of the head.

Gar ( Spotted )

 Description - Spotted gars are almost identical to Florida gars. Both species are the only two gars that have dark spots on the top of the head as well as over the entire body and on all the fins. They can be distinguished by the distance between the front of the eye and the rear edge of the gill cover. If the distance is more than two-thirds the length of the snout, it is a spotted gar. If the distance is less than two-thirds the length of the snout, it is a Florida gar. Spotted gars have a single row of teeth in each jaw and has a much broader snout than that of the longnose gar. The coloration generally is darker than that of Florida gars, some fish being almost black, depending on the color of the water.

Gar ( Alligator )

Description - They are one of the most distinctive freshwater fish species. Alligator gars are the largest of all gar species with a head that looks very much like an alligator's. They can be distinguished from all other gars species by the two rows of teeth in the upper jaw, their short-broader snout, and their size when fully grown. The body is long, slender, and olive or greenish brown (sometimes black) along the back and upper sides with white to yellow bellies. The sides are mottled toward the head with large black spots toward the rear and on the rear fins. The young have a light stripe along their back from tip of snout to upper base of caudal fin.