---
title: "What the sources say about the Alligator Gar | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "58 claims from the Alligator Gar profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Alligator Gar (*Atractosteus spatula*)

> 58 claims from the Alligator Gar profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Alligator Gar](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/alligator-gar/)

## Collette et al. (2019). Atractosteus spatula. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T191024A1966892.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-2.rlts.t191024a1966892.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| the IUCN lists the species as Least Concern | Least Concern (note: category read from GBIF's copy of the assessment, per docs/fact-check.md) |

## Atractosteus spatula (Gemfish). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Atractosteus_spatula/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a swim bladder that can work as a lung | Their swim bladder can function as a lung. |
| a vascularized swim bladder that can work as a lung | Their swim bladder can function as a lung. |

## Alligator Gar, Atractosteus spatula. Florida Museum of Natural History.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/alligator-gar/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| two rows of fang-like teeth in its upper jaw | two rows of fang-like teeth in the upper jaw |
| Large, slow-moving rivers, reservoirs, oxbow lakes, bayous, and brackish bays | The alligator gar inhabits large, slow moving rivers, reservoirs, oxbow lakes, bayous and bays, in fresh and brackish water. |
| from the Florida Panhandle across the Gulf Coastal Plain to Veracruz, Mexico | The range of the alligator gar extends from the Florida Panhandle, through the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Mississippi River Basin extending north to the lower portions of the Ohio and the Missouri River, and ranges southwest through Texas down to Veracruz, Mexico. |
| Mostly fish, plus blue crabs in brackish water, turtles, waterfowl, small mammals, and carrion | The alligator gars' diet consists primarily of fish. However, brackish water populations of alligator gar are known to feed heavily on blue crabs in addition to fish such as the hardhead catfish. This gar is also known to prey on waterfowl and other birds, small mammals, turtles, and carrion. |
| two rows of fang-like teeth in the upper jaw | two rows of fang-like teeth in the upper jaw |
| It is the largest of the seven living gar species | The alligator gar is one of the largest freshwater fishes in North America and is the largest of the gar species. |
| the seven living gar species | There is only one extant family of gar, Lepisosteidae, which has seven species all located in North and Central America. |
| Alligator gar commonly grow to about 2 meters (6.5 feet) and over 45 kilograms (100 pounds) | Alligator gars commonly grow to a size of 6 1/2ft (2 m) and over 100 lbs. (45kg). (note: 6.5 feet is the decimal form of the quote's '6 1/2ft') |
| have been reported to reach around 3 meters (10 feet) | have been reported to grow up to 350 lbs. and around 10 ft (3m) in length |
| One caught in Arkansas's St. Francis River in the 1930s weighed 159 kilograms (350 pounds) | The largest recorded alligator gar comes from the St. Francis River, Arkansas in the 1930's, and weighed 350 lbs (159 kg). (note: 'largest recorded' left out: TPWD calls a 327-pound 2011 fish the world record) |
| One caught in Arkansas's St. | The largest recorded alligator gar comes from the St. Francis River, Arkansas in the 1930's, and weighed 350 lbs (159 kg). (note: duplicate of the claim above, truncated at 'St.' so the sentence-splitter's abbreviation break still resolves to a covered claim) |
| Females mature around age 11 and males around age 6 | female alligator gars reaching sexual maturity around age 11 and living to age 50. Male alligator gars mature around age 6 and live at least 26 years. (note: lifespans left out: the Florida Museum's 'living to age 50' conflicts with TPWD's 2011 fish 'probably at least 95') |
| Ambush Hunter, Two Rows of Teeth | two rows of fang-like teeth in the upper jaw |
| Gars hunt by ambush: they lie still until a fish swims by, then lunge forward, lashing the head from side to side to catch it | Gars are ambush predators, primarily piscivores, they lay still in the water until an unsuspecting fish swims by, and then lunging forward and lashing the head from side to side in order to capture prey. |
| The alligator gar's short, broad snout carries two rows of fang-like teeth in the upper jaw, the inner row larger than the outer | relatively short, broad snout which has two rows of fang-like teeth in the upper jaw. The inner row of teeth in the upper jaw is palatine and larger than the outer row of teeth. |
| Its diet is mostly fish, but populations in brackish water (a mix of fresh and salt water) are known to feed heavily on blue crabs, and it also preys on waterfowl, turtles, small mammals and carrion | The alligator gars' diet consists primarily of fish. However, brackish water populations of alligator gar are known to feed heavily on blue crabs in addition to fish such as the hardhead catfish. This gar is also known to prey on waterfowl and other birds, small mammals, turtles, and carrion. |
| Despite its size and sharp teeth, there is no documentation of an alligator gar attacking a person, though it is capable of a serious bite wound | Due to its large size and sharp teeth, the alligator gar is capable of delivering a serious bite wound to fisherman or swimmers. However, there is no documentation of attacks on man by alligator gars. |
| Once a young gar reaches about a meter (3 feet), its only natural predator would be the American alligator | Young gars are preyed upon by larger fish, but once they reach a size of about 3 feet (1 m) their only natural predator would be an American alligator |
| The eggs are bright red and poisonous if eaten. | The eggs are bright red and poisonous if eaten. |
| Breathing Air When Oxygen Runs Low | Gars also have a highly vascularized swim bladder connected to the pharynx by a pneumatic duct. This enables them to gulp air, which aids in facultative air breathing. This allows gar to breathe when there are very low oxygen levels in the water. |
| Like other gars, it has a swim bladder packed with blood vessels and connected to its throat by a duct | Gars also have a highly vascularized swim bladder connected to the pharynx by a pneumatic duct. This enables them to gulp air, which aids in facultative air breathing. This allows gar to breathe when there are very low oxygen levels in the water. (note: 'packed with blood vessels' for 'highly vascularized'; throat for pharynx) |
| This lets a gar gulp air and breathe even when the water holds very little oxygen | Gars also have a highly vascularized swim bladder connected to the pharynx by a pneumatic duct. This enables them to gulp air, which aids in facultative air breathing. This allows gar to breathe when there are very low oxygen levels in the water. (note: 'lets' paraphrases 'enables' and 'allows') |
| It is also the gar species most tolerant of salty water. | The alligator gar is the most tolerant gar species of high salinity and occasionally strays into salt water. |
| Its range runs from the Florida Panhandle across the Gulf Coastal Plain to Veracruz, Mexico | The range of the alligator gar extends from the Florida Panhandle, through the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Mississippi River Basin extending north to the lower portions of the Ohio and the Missouri River, and ranges southwest through Texas down to Veracruz, Mexico. |
| It has suffered from overfishing, and dams, dikes and other flood control works have cost it key breeding habitat | declining in population everywhere due to over-fishing and the construction of dikes, dams, and other flood control devices, resulting in loss of key breeding habitat (note: 'everywhere' left out: TPWD says Texas populations are still strong) |
| There is no documentation of an alligator gar attacking a person. | there is no documentation of attacks on man by alligator gars |
| With its large size and sharp teeth, though, it is capable of delivering a serious bite wound to a fisherman or swimmer | Due to its large size and sharp teeth, the alligator gar is capable of delivering a serious bite wound to fisherman or swimmers |
| Its swim bladder, packed with blood vessels, lets gars gulp air and breathe even when the water holds very little oxygen | Gars also have a highly vascularized swim bladder connected to the pharynx by a pneumatic duct. This enables them to gulp air, which aids in facultative air breathing. This allows gar to breathe when there are very low oxygen levels in the water. |

## Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula). Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/alg/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| interlocking ganoid scales | diamond-shaped interlocking (ganoid) scales |
| historically north to the lower Missouri and Ohio rivers | The historic range extends north in the Mississippi River basin to the lower reaches of the Missouri and Ohio rivers. |
| alligator gar can live for many decades | Alligator gar can live for many decades. |
| They grow very fast when young, but growth slows with age. | They grow very fast when young, but growth slows with age. |
| In general, each extra foot of length doubles a gar's age | In general, for every additional foot the fish grows, its age doubles. |
| a 3-foot fish is typically about two and a half years old, and a 7-foot trophy catch might be 40 | A 3-foot gar is typically about 2.5 years old; a 4-foot gar about 5, and a 7-foot trophy catch might be 40 years old. (note: dropped the 4-foot/age-5 middle example for length) |
| A 327-pound (148-kilogram) fish caught in Mississippi in 2011 was probably at least 95 years old | The world record, caught in Mississippi in 2011, weighed 327 pounds and was probably at least 95. (note: 148 kg is 327 lb converted; 'world record' left out as a current-state claim) |
| Its body is wrapped in interlocking, diamond-shaped ganoid scales | long, slender, cylindrical bodies, long snouts, and diamond-shaped interlocking (ganoid) scales |
| historically north up the Mississippi River basin to the lower Missouri and Ohio rivers | The historic range extends north in the Mississippi River basin to the lower reaches of the Missouri and Ohio rivers. |
| Surveys show it declining or gone in many areas of the southeastern United States | Recent surveys indicate the species is declining or has disappeared in many areas of the southeastern United States. |
| Texas populations are still strong | Texas populations are still strong. |

## Allison et al. (2013). Mechanical properties and structure of the biological multilayered material system, Atractosteus spatula scales. Acta Biomaterialia.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2012.11.005

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Armor Built in Two Layers | a thinner, stiffer and harder outer layer (indentation modulus ∼69 GPa and hardness ∼3.3 GPa) on a more compliant and thicker inner layer (indentation modulus ∼14.3 GPa and hardness ∼0.5 GPa) |
| Two layers, two hardnesses | a thinner, stiffer and harder outer layer (indentation modulus ∼69 GPa and hardness ∼3.3 GPa) on a more compliant and thicker inner layer (indentation modulus ∼14.3 GPa and hardness ∼0.5 GPa) |
| In lab tests, the outer layer of an alligator gar scale measured about 3.3 gigapascals of hardness, more than six times the 0.5 of the bony layer beneath | a thinner, stiffer and harder outer layer (indentation modulus ∼69 GPa and hardness ∼3.3 GPa) on a more compliant and thicker inner layer (indentation modulus ∼14.3 GPa and hardness ∼0.5 GPa) (note: ~3.3 / ~0.5 = 6.6, stated as more than six times; lab tests = microindentation tests on A. spatula scales) |

## Sherman et al. (2017). A comparative study of piscine defense: The scales of Arapaima gigas, Latimeria chalumnae and Atractosteus spatula. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2016.10.001

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Interlocking ganoid scale armor with a hard outer layer over a tough bony base | inflexible articulating ganoid scales made of a hard and highly mineralized enamel-like outer surface and a tough dentine-like bony base (note: 'articulating' (jointed) scales; TPWD calls them interlocking) |
| Each scale has a hard, enamel-like outer layer over a tough, dentine-like bony base | a hard and highly mineralized enamel-like outer surface and a tough dentine-like bony base |
| Together, the layers resist powerful bites from alligators and from other alligator gar | which resist powerful bite forces of self-predation and attack by alligators (note: 'self-predation' is the paper's term for an attack by another fish of the same species) |
| Jointed ganoid scales, each with a hard, highly mineralized, enamel-like outer layer over a tough, dentine-like bony base | inflexible articulating ganoid scales made of a hard and highly mineralized enamel-like outer surface and a tough dentine-like bony base |
| The scales resist powerful bites, including attacks by alligators and by other alligator gar | which resist powerful bite forces of self-predation and attack by alligators |

## Sherman et al. (2016). Microstructural and geometric influences in the protective scales of Atractosteus spatula. Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.0595

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Described as a 100-million-year-old living fossil | has been described as a living fossil (having existed for 100 Myr) |
| A Giant Living Fossil | has been described as a living fossil (having existed for 100 Myr) |
| living fossil that has existed for around 100 million years | has been described as a living fossil (having existed for 100 Myr) |
| keeping traits from its early ancestors, including the ability to breathe air | retaining morphological characteristics of early ancestors such as the ability to breathe air and survive above water for hours |
| Tiny saw-tooth ridges along the boundary between the two layers steer cracks away from that boundary, which is naturally weak | saw-tooth ridges along the interface between the two scale layers which direct cracks away from the intrinsically weak interface (note: 'Tiny': the abstract lists them among its microstructural features) |
| the alligator gar can survive out of water for hours | the ability to breathe air and survive above water for hours |
| Yes, for hours. | the ability to breathe air and survive above water for hours |
| Scientists describe the ability to breathe air and survive out of water for hours as traits it kept from its early ancestors | retaining morphological characteristics of early ancestors such as the ability to breathe air and survive above water for hours |