Tropical gar

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Onglets

Description

Distinguishing features

These fish are distinguished by their elongated, cylindrical body, covered with hard, glossy scales. They have a long, narrow snout lined with sharp teeth, perfectly adapted for capturing prey.

Their coloration ranges from olive green to brown, with a lighter underside.

Reproduction

At the start of the dry season, tropical gars move to shallow areas to spawn.

They breed in June and July, when rainfall is at its peak and rivers overflow, creating an ideal spawning habitat among flooded vegetation. Groups gather to lay thousands of eggs in a gelatinous mass.

After spawning, adults return to deeper parts of the rivers, leaving the juveniles in the flooded vegetation.

Diet

Opportunistic predators, tropical gars primarily feed on fish but also consume crustaceans and other small aquatic animals.

They use their long, narrow snout and sharp teeth to ambush and capture prey.

Predators

Tropical gars main predators are large carnivorous fish and piscivorous birds.

Eggs and juveniles are particularly vulnerable to aquatic predators.

Habitat

Tropical gars inhabit freshwater environments, favoring calm areas of rivers, lakes, and estuaries. They are often found near the water’s surface, where they can be mistaken for floating logs.

Ecology, behaviour

Tropical gars are solitary fish that spend most of their time motionless. They are believed to have some ability to breathe air, enabling them to survive in low-oxygen waters.

They play an important role in the ecosystem by regulating populations of smaller fish.

French name

Lépisosté tropical

Scientific name

Atractosteus tropicus

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Actinopterygii

Order

Lepisosteiformes

Family

Lepisosteidae

Size

Up to 1.2 meters in length

Weight

Up to 4.5 kg

Life span

In the wild: up to 18 years

Status

Least concern (IUCN)

At the Biodôme

Tropical gars share their habitat in the lake of the Tropical rainforest of the Americas with other fish, such as the tambaqui, and with capybaras when they enter the water to bathe.

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