Contributions to the Life History of the Longnose Gar, (Lepisosteus osseus) in Missouri
- 1 July 1962
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 91 (3) , 251-262
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1962)91[251:cttlho]2.0.co;2
Abstract
The age and growth of the longnose gar in Central Missouri were determined from the branchiostegal rays. Males and femmes differed markedly in growth and longevity. One‐year‐old males were 19.5 inches long, and females were 22.0 inches long. Females continued to grow approximately one inch a year for 13 to 14 years, and outlived the males. Males matured between 3 and 4 years of age, and females at about 6 years of age. Sex ratios changed with the age of the fish; initially they were in favor of the males, and after 10 years, they were in favor of females. The average number of eggs per female was 27,830; range 4,273 and 59,422. The mature eggs are toxic to mice and other higher vertebrates, but are probably not toxic to fishes. Twenty young‐of‐the‐year gar were raised experimentally for 52 days, and grew at the rate of 2.95 millimeters per day. Their gross metabolic efficiency during this time was 43.1 percent, and their food conversion factor was 2.34. Young‐of‐the‐year gar ate an average of 9.1 percent of their body weight per day, and digestion was completed at the end of 24 hours. These factors, in part, cause the longnose gar to be one of the fastest growing freshwater fishes, growing up to 6 times faster than other common, large, freshwater fishes.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: