Longnose Gar

Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Photo by Gary Meszaros

Columbus Dispatch
NATURE
Odd prehistoric fish is lean and lethal
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Jim McCormac

Let’s become a blackstripe topminnow, for a moment. Swimming just under the surface of a stream, as topminnows do, we’re having a good time picking off insects that have fallen into the drink.

We are maneuvering around a large floating stick when SNAP! With blinding speed, the “stick” animates into a toothy terror, and the business end opens into a gaping maw filled with tiny needles — the last sight we’ll see in this watery world.

And another minnow meets its demise, courtesy of one of Ohio’s oldest beasts: the longnose gar ( Lepisosteus osseus).

In our rivers, only lampreys, sturgeon and paddlefish are more primitive than gars, which have been plying Earth’s waters for at least 65 million years. Gars certainly look the part of a creature that dates to the Cretaceous Period. Long and cylindrical, gars are heavily plated with armorlike scales, like piscine Sherman tanks. They have an incredibly elongated “beak” filled with sharp teeth, the better to seize and lacerate lesser fishes.

Gars even have an odd bladder that allows them to breathe fresh air, which is why observers occasionally notice them sticking their snout from the water. Their gills are functional, but the ability to breathe air is useful in poorly oxygenated waters.

At one time, gars were far more plentiful in Ohio’s streams. Two species, the spotted and shortnose gars, are listed as endangered and are confined to limited areas of Lake Erie and the lower Scioto River, respectively.

The monstrous alligator gar once lived in the Ohio River and the lower portions of its major tributaries. Alligator gars are the stuff of legend, with exceptional individuals approaching 10 feet long and weighing more than 300 pounds. The last Ohio specimen was taken in 1946.

Today, only the longnose gar is common in the Buckeye State. These bizarre fish aren’t exactly Lilliputian: A big one can tape out at 4½ feet long and tip the scales at 14 pounds. More common are gar of 2 to 3 feet and perhaps 7 pounds.

I once saw about 50 longnose gars loafing in the slack water of a pool in a southern Ohio stream. They looked just like a bunch of sticks drifting with the current. And that’s their hunting strategy: Look very unfishlike and dupe prey into a sense of security. Then, when something tasty — like our aforementioned blackstripe topminnow — floats into range, they lash out and snap it up.

Longnose gars aren’t plentiful in central Ohio, but they do occur in Big Walnut Creek below Hoover Reservoir. They can also be found in the Scioto River south of Columbus.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jim.mccormac.blogspot. com.