OUTDOOR CORNER: GAR: NATURE'S SURVIVOR LIVES AS OUTCAST

Have you ever referred to gar as a trash fish? Have you ever caught a gar and thrown it on the bank to die?

Gar have gotten a bad reputation over time. Most anglers think that they are bad for game fish populations or that they don't serve a purpose in any fish population. Others just think that they are ugly and don't deserve to live in our rivers and wetlands.

Gar are a group of primitive fish that live mainly in the Mississippi River Valley. They range from southern Canada to Central America living in fresh and brackish waters. They live in sluggish pools and backwaters of large rivers, swamps, bayous and lakes and are well-adapted to life in low-quality waters. There are seven species of gar in the world, five species in North America, and four of the species live in Missouri.

In Missouri, anglers are most likely to find longnose and shortnose gar. Spotted gar also live in Missouri; however, they are not as common as the other two. Longnose gar can reach 40 pounds, shortnose and spotted gar can reach between 5 and 8 pounds. Although rare in Missouri the "king" of the river, the alligator gar, can reach 10 feet long and can weigh 300 pounds.

Gar are easily seen just beneath the water's surface performing an activity called "breaking" and it's purpose is to renew the supply of air in the swim bladder. The swim bladder is an organ that allows a fish to control buoyancy.

The swim bladder in gar is abundantly wrapped in capillary blood vessels and is connected to the throat. This allows them to gulp air when oxygen in the water is low. The blood vessels can use the swim bladder to supplement their oxygen supply. With this extra function gar are one of the most resilient fish in Missouri.

Gar are recognized by their torpedo shaped body, long snout with prominent teeth, and their hard diamond shaped scales. Their scales form a hard armor sheath making them immune to the attacks of most predators. All of the species of gar in Missouri are olive- green to brown above and silver or white below.

They spawn in the spring by broadcasting their adhesive eggs where they can attach to vegetation or substrate. The eggs are toxic to warm-blooded vertebrates. After the first few weeks of life, man is the gar's only predator.

Gar, like the sea lamprey, sturgeon and paddlefish, are remnants from primitive times. All of these fish have been referred to as living fossils. Living species of these primitive fish closely resemble gars recorded in fossils from 75 million years ago.

Native Americans found many uses for these fish. They used the scales to make armor, arrow heads, jewelry and for adornment on their tribal dress. Although rare, these scales are still being used today as jewelry.

During the early 1900's alligator gar were on the hit list. There was a mid-western campaign to eradicate all alligator gar. Anglers incorrectly felt that alligator gar were destroying game fish populations. There were several reports of anglers needlessly persecuting these animals by the hundreds.

John Fox, an alligator gar guide stated in an In-Fisherman article that "We were catching gar like there was no tomorrow. When we got one to the boat, we'd shoot it and just let it sink." By the 1950's anglers from all around the country came to the Midwest for the excitement of catching a 100 to 300 pound alligator gar.

By the 1960's there weren't many alligator gar left. Some anglers say that habitat changes have caused the demise of the alligator gar; however, it can be argued that the over-exploitation of the species caused the decrease of the alligator gar population. Both of the factors attributed to the decline of alligator gar in the United States.

Most anglers incorrectly think that gar feed mainly on sport fish. As predators, they help control small fish numbers and therefore help to maintain desirable fish populations. When gar are young they feed mainly on mosquito larvae and small crustaceans. Gizzard shad make up the majority of adult gar's diet. Freshwater shrimp, crayfish, and insects represent most of the remaining part of their diet. Gar will occasionally eat other species of fish but not enough to diminish an individual population of any sportfish.

Gar not only help control fish populations, they also play a major role in the natural history of mussels such as the sand shell mussel, which is abundant in the Ozarks. When mussels reproduce, the juvenile stage lives in a parasitic form on the gills of fish, until they begin to develop into young mussels. The sand shell mussel will only attach to gar. Without the gar the sandshell mussel could be come endangered. This is just another good example of how every organism is connected to others in some form or fashion.

The gar has its place in the aquatic world like any other organism. We should never catch a gar and throw it on a bank to die, because we feel that it doesn't deserve to live. Nothing is wrong with taking game if the hunter or angler plans on using that organism for a purpose.

The gar family is an ancient lineage that has demonstrated the ability to survive. It can be argued that it is arrogant for us to consider them worthless when they are so resilient. If gar are ever wiped out it will be due to human actions. If a survivor like gar disappear can people be far behind?

Christopher Kennedy is a fisheries management specialist for the Missouri Department of Conservation.