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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



longitudinal ridge, or low keel, along either side of 

 the caudal peduncle. 6 



Color. — Greenish above, silvery on the sides, 

 white below; a bluish silvery stripe along each side 

 becoming broader and less distinct toward the tail; 

 snout dark green; there is a blackish blotch deeper 

 than long on the upper part of the cheek. The 

 fins are without markings for the most part; the 

 dorsal may be somewhat dusky, and the caudal 

 bluish at its base. 



Size.- — The silver gar grows to a length of about 

 4 feet. 



General range.— Maine to Texas; abundant along 

 the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United 

 States, often running up fresh rivers above tide 

 water. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The silver gar 

 is common enough along the southern shores of 

 New England, e. g., in Rhode Island waters and 

 at Woods Hole where quite a few are found from 

 June to October. Like many other southern fishes, 

 however, it seldom journeys eastward past Cape 

 Cod, the only definite records of it within the 

 Gulf of Maine being of several collected by Dr. 

 William C. Kendall at Monomoy Island, forming 

 the southern elbow of Cape Cod; at Wolfs Neck, 

 Freeport, and Casco Bay, Maine, and of one 

 found by Crane 6 in the stomach of a tuna that 

 she examined at Portland, Maine, in July 1936. 

 We have not seen it in the Gulf, nor have we heard 

 even a rumor of its presence there from fishermen, 

 good evidence that it is as rare a straggler as the 

 few records indicate, for large silver gars are not 



' There are many other species of gars In tropical seas, any one of which 

 might stray northward with the Gulf Stream and so to the Gulf of Maine. 

 The silver gar Is identifiable among them by the following combination of 

 characters (no one character alone marks it out among its relatives): mouth 

 capable of being nearly closed; caudal peduncle with keels; dorsal and anal 

 flns short, the former with 13-17 rays, the latter with 17-21 rays; caudal fin 

 only moderately concave; eyes at least one-third as broad as the head is long 

 behind the eyes; body not excessively slender but at least one-fifth to one-sixth 

 as deep as head (including jaws) Is long; body not very strongly compressed 

 sidewise; Jordan and Evermann (Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., Pt. 1, 1896. p. 

 709) gives a useful key to the species of the family. 



• Zoologica, New York Zool. Soc, vol. 21, No. 16, 1936, p. 211. 



fish to be overlooked. With so little claim to 

 mention here, we need merely note that it is 

 voracious, feeding on all sorts of smaller fishes, 

 and that it runs inshore, possibly even into river 

 mouths, to spawn. The eggs, described by Ryder, 7 

 are about 3.6 mm. (one-seventh of an inch) in 

 diameter, and stick together and to any object 

 they may touch, by long threads scattered over 

 their surface. 



Garfish Ablennes Mans (Cuvier and Valenciennes) 

 1846 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 718, Athlennes 

 hians* 



Description. — This gar resembles the silver gar 

 (Tylosurus) closely in general appearance, as well 

 as in the nature and arrangement of its fins; 

 especially in the fact that the rear parts of its 

 dorsal and caudal fins can be depressed and almost 

 completely concealed in a groove, with the for- 

 ward parts still remaining erect. But its body is so 

 strongly flattened sidewise as to be less than one- 

 half as thick as it is deep, instead of about as 

 thick as deep, or thicker, as it is in the silver gar. 

 The dorsal fin, also, arises farther back relative to 

 the anal fin, than is the case in the silver gar. 

 The tail fin is broadly forked, the dorsal and anal 

 fins deeply concave. 



Color. — Back greenish with bluish green reflec- 

 tions; lower part of sides bright silvery, also 

 the abdomen; snout greenish; dorsal fin mostly 

 greenish, but with the rays black-tipped; tail fin 

 greenish. Some individuals have the sides plain 

 silvery, but others are marked with dark blotches 

 or indistinct sooty or blue crossbars. 9 



Size. — Up to 3 feet long, or more. 



' Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., vol. 1, 1882, p. 283. 



8 The original spelling was Athtennes (Jordan and Fordice, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., vol. 9, 1886, p. 342). But Jordan and Evermann (Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., Pt. 1, 1896, p. 717, footnote) state that "Ablennes" was intended. 



• Smith (Sea Fishes of Southern Africa, 1949, pi. 7, fig. 26) gives a colored 

 illustration o ione with blue crossbars. 



^■»'» pwygway ' wwww^ww^w nw.m^.inw^^ 



Figure 80. — Garfish (Ablennes hians), specimens from North Truro, Mass., and from Acapulco, Mexico. Drawing by 



H. B. Bigelow. 



