Shortnose Gar and Spotted Gar have an overlapping range and are capable of hybridizing. It was dark, and I don’t have good photos, so mine was likely a hybrid. Photo courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Species: Shortnose Gar (Lepisosteus platostomus)
Location: Alligator Preserve Pond, Madison, Alabama
Date: July 30, 2017

I’ve caught more than 200 species at the time of writing. Of those, the only one I’ve counted without 100% certainty of identification was the Shortnose Gar. I fully expect to catch another, but since I counted it as Species #90 and caught more than 100 species since, I’m counting it with an asterisk.

The one I caught was likely a hybrid Spotted x Shortnose Gar, and I don’t have good photos because it was caught at night. So here we have a pitiful story, an excuse, and no pictures. Excellent.

Sadly, I know way too many anglers who feed us this line on the regular. I promise it’s a one-off for me, though, and I have it on the shortlist, so I’ll get one “for real” very soon.

#SpeciesQuest // #CaughtOvgard

Read the next entry in #SpeciesQuest here: Species #91 — Creek Chub.

Luke Ovgard Rough Fishing, SpeciesQuest , ,

6 Replies

  1. Great website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really love to be a part of online community where I can get comments from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Kudos!

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