Longnose Gar

Lepisosteus osseus

Classification

Conservation Status

  • Sometimes called living fossils, longnose gar belong to a genus that has existed in North America for 100 million years. For comparison, the homo genus to which humans belong is between 2.5 and 3 million years old. 
  • The oldest gar on record lived to be 39 years old. 
  • Longnose gar can breath air, which allows them to inhabitat warmer waters that are low in oxygen. 
  • Longnose gar were once an important source of food for Native Americans and European colonists.