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Finally have a fish I can post in this forum; since no one has posted either of the two rarer gar species (the tropical and the Cuban) I figured I would post here and continually update with pics and info. The Cuban gar is the rarest gar in the world, with its natural distribution now limited to basically two drainages in Cuba. It's genus consists of three species, the other two being the alligator gar (A. spatula) and the tropical gar (A. tropicus). Very little is actually known about this gar in the wild, with specimens around 200cm considered near the maximum size. Here are some pics of mine when I first received it from Rick of Cichlids Forever in Singapore (special thanks to George at Shark Aquarium for making this possible) --

Attached image(s)

NICE!!! Are you gunning for the tropical gar next, or are you still looking for a shortnose gar?

i may have a shortnose gar already, i have a small juvenile (now working on 8.5") that was sold to me as a shortnose, so we will see how he ends up -- will probably take another month or so to be sure. the tropical gar is next in line, however, it is proving to be a harder find than the Cuban (which is the rarest, but apparently easier to track down?!) that and hardly anyone wants to put the effort into looking for a tropical gar either! we'll see how things work out

Is it true that Tropical Gars grow as large as Alligator Gar or is this just a rumor?

according to actual verified data, the Atractosteus genus size hierarchy is as follows:
largest to smallest -
A. spatula
A. tristoechus (200cm)
A. tropicus (125 cm)

most recorded data indicates that tropical gars do not get as large as the other two species, BUT there is of course the possibility of them getting larger (we just haven't seen them yet) since both the Cuban and tropical are quite rare and relatively unstudied. it would make sense that it's possible for the other two to get quite large, often times (but not always the case) warmer climates do help lead to larger fishes.

I thought I posted this pic already in this thread this morning but my post disappeared?



adult cuban gar

hey ming, i saw that that happened...could be because we may only be allowed to post our own pics in this forum and not ones from outside sources? who knows? either way that's a cool pic...i have scoured a lot of the net for Cuban pics and dont remember seeing it.

nice pictures and a really awesome gar

my lfs have some gar that look like long nose but have no pattern at all...what speices are these? Next time I go I will try and remember my camera.

hey T4L,

if it looks like a longnose, it probably is a longnose...unless it's pretty tiny a longnose is quite distinctive from the other gars in that its jaws are about 2x the length of the head (eye to back of opercle). longnose gar patterning is also more variable than is commonly publicized, if you check out the 'gar key' it shows some variance in the pattern of the gars, but they can vary even more than that, in coloration and in amount of pattern. unless it has a shorter snout and little pattern (which would probably make it a shortnose ) it's probably a paler variant longnose. of course, as always pics would be great, so ill wait for those if you can get them!--
--solomon

If anyone is interested George has some Cubans for sale in the Buy/Sell. I saw them in person and they are very nice looking.

Edit: Link.

This post has been edited by Your fish is my fish's b***h: Jun 20 2004, 01:41 PM

i managed a petstore in new york for some years and ordered those gars all the time.

funny thing is they called them south american gars. but when i would get them they had no pattern and thought they were regular gars, becasue the s.a we normally had recieved had brown spots almost looking like cows.

i have to say if you are in the new york area and want a cuban gar go to PETLAND DISCOUNTS you will find their mistakes for only $20-$30.
i wish i would've known back then what i know now. i would have kept and tried to breed them.

they always have them.

unbelievable what i let slip thropugh my hands.
i've sold dozens of them-i cant believe that

i'd honestly have to see it to believe it; anyone going to this place in NY get me a picture!!!

shortnose gars have often been confused with Cuban gars, because shortnoses look very similar and lack pattern and have a very short broad snout. the difference is in the fin pattern and also the prominent second row of teeth in the upper jaw that shortnose doesnt have. i find it highly unlikely that they would be selling a fish that costs around $100 to land for $20-30. not saying its impossible, just very very unlikely. even stores that mis-ID fishes still look at their cost, and they definitely dont sell them at cost...nor would they be able to attain that gar below $20 unless they were somehow smuggled in from Cuba. my opinion on that issue--
--solomon

as i stated they were mis labeled. i have seen more expensive mistakes then that.

but hey i did not know anybetter at the time.but i remember all the time getting those gars in, and saying these are not south american gars but oh well, and yes we sold them for $20-$30. accidents happen animals get the wrong name and identification all the time. it was not purposely done and if i knew now what i know now back then i would have corrected it.

things happen. i wish i could locate the people i have sold them to.
i have no reason to spread rumors i am just telling you of a past experience.

CHRIS'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT.

choose to do what you do. i just wish i had another to give at that price.

These fish aren't that commonly brought into the US, it'd be highly unusual for the distributors to even have them on hand to confuse them with another gar. They'd actually have to have some in stock to misidentify them.

Yes very cool, I want one now!

But hey what size tank do you have them in?

all my gars are in a 120g 4x2' tank. its shorter, but wide compared to a normal 120g. these gars are very rare and there are only a few in the country that i know of; george (shark aquarium) has them on sale; check the link that Rich (your fish is my fish's .....) put earlier in this thread. very cool fish!--
--solomon

but my problem is i don't wanna squeeze one of those into an 80, so it looks like i'm not getting one...

they are about 12" right now, which may push the limits of your 80g pretty soon. very cool fish though, and they probably wont grow too fast from this point on; if you get a bigger tank i would definitely consider getting one if you are interested in rare gars

I am very interested. But the problem is my parents won't let me have anything bigger than my current 80 gallon, so I can only dream.