Re: NANFA-- No luck on Heterandria formosa, but......

Bill Flowers (bloomin_at_indy.net)
Thu, 05 Jun 2003 07:33:38 -0500

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A few years ago I was fortunate to witness Longnose Gars spawning in
one of the streams near my home. I collected some of the eggs and took
them home to see if I could raise them. Here is some of the things I
learned.
Longnose gar fry are able to eat Mosquito larvae right after hatching,
they are also very cannabalistic. As they grew I kept feeding them
larger and larger fish from the creek. (They really like Gambusia) I
also found out no matter how much they have eaten, there is always room
for 1 more fish. Finally a gar can grow from an egg to a 24" tank buster
in 9 months. Hope this will answer some of your questions.

Bill Flowers
NANFA Convention or Bust

PozSouthAlabama_at_aol.com wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I've been lurking for a while, reading the posts from time to time (wishing I
>was
>able to go to the convention since it's in state but not enough time......)
>
>Anyway, two weeks ago I stopped at a roadside drainage ditch to see if I might
>be lucky enough to find a population of Heterandria formosa dwelling there
>(for a
>fish that's supposed to be common here in coastal Alabama, they sure are
>elusive). Taking my dip net I scrounged along the bank of the ditch, coming
>up
>with a net full of hornwort, duckweed, ludwegia and......something long,
>brown,
>and thin which quickly slithered its way under and plant matter (instant
>first
>impression --- ah, a pipefish --- as I started pulling out the plants).
>Another quick
>glimpse of it as it slides below another wad of hornwort (hmmm.... too stocky
>for a
>pipefish....a baby trumpetfish?....can they survive brackish water? --- it's
>really
>amazing how many thoughts can pass through your head in just a couple of
>seconds). I get to the bottom of the net, invert my find into my collecting
>bucket,
>and just stand there staring at a 3" gar. How cool!!! I'm not big on
>predators, but
>have always thought gars and bowfins were fascinating and now here I have a
>gar
>of managable size to observe. Of course, now I'm thinking, if I'm lucky
>enough to
>find one juvenile gar maybe.........
>
>So I start exploring this ditch very meticulously. In the course of the next
>hour or
>so I find seven more gars but these were really babies --- all of 3/4" long
>(I was very
>glad I was using my large aquarium dip net with the fine mesh).
>
>Over the course of the past two weeks all have done very well. The first one
>I caught
>is now pushing 5" and I believe it to be a longnose gar. The seven babies
>are now
>ranging between 1-3/4" to 2-1/2" and are now taking baby gambusia (which,
>believe
>me, after trying to satisfy them with enough live mosquito larvae for two
>weeks is a
>welcome change in diet). The growth rate of the babies is phenomenal to say
>the
>least (and they all appear to be longnose gars as well).
>
>So, now it seems my primary interest is going from one extreme to another ---
>from
>the tiny (Heterandria) to the monsterous (gars).
>
>Hey, but versatility is a good thing --- right?
>
>Anyway, I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else has had any experience
>with
>raising post larval stage gars (any species). This week I have collected 30
>gar fry
>from another spot and these appear to not all be of the same species (but
>then again,
>these are also only 3/4" long yet and I've already seen how variable the
>color patterns
>on these guys can be --- my seven babies from two weeks ago show two very
>distinct
>color phases --- three are chocolate brown and cream colored and three are a
>dark
>green and white --- and one is an overall pale white color with no markings
>or stripes
>at all..... I'm watching that one very closely - no, it doesn't have red eyes
>- that
>would be just too cool for words)
>
>Anyway, that's enough for my rambling first post to the group. Eventually I
>hope to
>be able to post online plenty of pics of the growth and changes the baby gars
>go
>through (and pics of a tiny gar wrestling with a mosquito larvae --- it's a
>surreal image)
>/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
>/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
>/ Association"
>/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
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/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org
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