Interactions
Other Longnose gar
Though little
is known of the longnose gars behavior it is known to be a
gregarious fish, living in small groups of three to five
indaviduals (Holloway, 1954). This type of living is true for
the gar for the majority of its life. However during the matting
season, late May to early June, many gar travel and congregate
in very clear shallow streams (“Longnose gar”).
Other Organisms
Longnose gar
are voracious animals feeding on a variety of other fish, which
makes them a common sight around the smaller fish it feeds on. In
many ecosystems it is considered to be the apex predator and is
important because it maintains the populations of the fish in the
ecosystem. In ecosystems where it is not the apex predator,
primarily southern habitats, the only known natural threat to gar is
the american alligator (Goddard). The only fish that has been
reported to attack or feed on longnose gar are their sister species,
alligator gar, which are substantially larger than longnose gar.
These attacks from alligator gar tend to be rare.
Human interaction
Longnose gar
can measure up to 50 inches in length and can weigh up to 35 pounds
(“Longnose gar”). This in combination with their large jaws lined with
hundreds of needle like teeth make them a possible threat to humans.
However, though the gar has the ability to harm humans there is no
strong evidence to show that gar would ever attack a human. In some
parts of the United States longnose gar are raised on fish farms and
released to either control populations of smaller fish or to be
caught as game fish (Rudy, 2003).