Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Holostei (gars and bowfins) > Lepisosteiformes (Gars) > Lepisosteidae (Gars)
Etymology: Lepisosteus: Greek, lepis = scale + Greek, osteon = bone; bony sacled (Ref. 45335); platostomus: From the words platy, meaning flat and stomus, meaning mouth (Ref. 10294).
More on author: Rafinesque.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal. Subtropical; 10°C - 18°C (Ref. 2060); 46°N - 31°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: USA in Mississippi River basin from south central Ohio, north Indiana, and Wisconsin to Montana and south to north Alabama and Louisiana; Lake Michigan drainage, Wisconsin ; Calcasieu and Mermentau rivers on Louisiana Gulf Coast.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 88.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 62.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 2.6 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 12193)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Inhabit quiet pools and backwaters of creeks and small to large rivers, swamps, lakes and overflow areas of large streams. Often occur near vegetation and submerged logs. Feed on other fishes and insects. Spawning occurs over vegetation or other submerged objects (Ref. 10294).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Wiley, Ed | Collaborators

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea and W.B. Scott, 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. (20):183 p. (Ref. 3814)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 March 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology

Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
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Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith

Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
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Taxonomy
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References
References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5781 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00186 (0.00084 - 0.00412), b=3.20 (3.00 - 3.40), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.9 ±0.7 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High vulnerability (55 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Lepisosteus platostomus Rafinesque, 1820