Lepisosteus oculatus, Spotted gar : fisheries, gamefish

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Lepisosteus oculatus Winchell, 1864

Spotted gar
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Lepisosteus oculatus
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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);  oculatus: From the word oculatus, meaning eyed (referring to the ocellus-like spots on the body) (Ref. 10294).

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

Freshwater; brackish; demersal. Subtropical; 12°C - 20°C (Ref. 2060); 52°N - 24°N, 99°W - 74°W

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

North America: Lake Erie and south Lake Michigan drainages south through Mississippi River basin to Gulf Slope drainages from lower Apalachicola River in Florida to Nueces River in Texas, USA.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 40 - ? cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57533); common length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3728); max. published weight: 4.4 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 18 years (Ref. 12193)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Profusion of dark spots on the body, head and fins. Dark in coloration (Ref. 37032).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Adults occur in quiet, clear pools and backwaters of lowland creeks, small to large rivers, oxbow lakes, swamps and sloughs. Occasionally enter brackish waters. A voracious predator feeding on various kinds of fishes and crustaceans.

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)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 20 March 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Common names
Synonyms
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Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
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Spawning
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Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
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Morphology
Larvae
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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=0.00347 (0.00148 - 0.00814), b=3.22 (3.01 - 3.43), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.66 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=4; Fec=1,772).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 37.9 [23.5, 80.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.781 [0.471, 1.202] mg/100g; Protein = 18.6 [17.7, 19.5] %; Omega3 = 0.271 [0.161, 0.458] g/100g; Selenium = 45.8 [25.3, 84.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.17 [2.51, 14.71] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.573 [0.426, 0.794] mg/100g (wet weight);