Lepisosteus platostomus, Shortnose gar : gamefish, aquarium

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Lepisosteus platostomus Rafinesque, 1820

Shortnose gar
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Lepisosteus platostomus
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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);  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: Lm ?  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)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

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)

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

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Ecology
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Common names
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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=0.00234 (0.00105 - 0.00523), b=3.18 (2.97 - 3.39), 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).