312 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



3. LONG-NOSED GAR 



LEPISOSTEUS OSSEUS (Linnaeus) 



The Long-nosed Gar occurs in the Great Lakes and all the rivers 

 of the United States from Vermont to the Rio Grande and west to 

 Kansas and Nebraska. It is generally abundant and very variable, 

 the local variations having given rise to not fewer than 28 specific 

 names. 



This fish is, unfortunately, abundant in Lake Maxinkuckee. In 

 our seining operations, though confined chiefly to shallow water 

 near shore, numerous examples were caught. At one haul with a 

 45-foot seine near Norris Inlet, 40 examples were taken varying 

 in lejigth from 1.5 to 3 feet. With a larger seine drawn in deeper 

 water, a great many of this destructive fish could doubtless be 

 caught. They were occasionally caught in other hauls of the seine. 

 On July 29, 1899, a 27-inch example was caught near the top 

 of a gillnet in 8 feet of water, and on July 21 of the same year 3 

 were taken in one haul of the net at the Academy pier. They are 

 also sometimes caught on hooks. On July 26 one was caught by- 

 Miss Burford of Indianapolis which was 4 feet 2 inches long and 

 weighed 14 pounds. On August 16, 1900, a small one was caught 

 on a trot-line set off Long Point over night, and on September 20, 

 1903, a gar which was 4 feet 5 inches long and weighed 16 pounds, 

 probably this species, was caught by an angler. 



The Gar has a habit of basking on the surface, especially in 

 warm shallow bays during hot weather. While thus occupied, 

 they look very much like a stick. It is possible that they sometimes 

 use this method of capturing other fishes instead of chasing them. 

 In the latter part of August, 1900, a fisherman reported that they 

 were seen basking in considerable numbers in Culver Bay, and 

 about the same time several were seen on the Weedpatch. 

 Sometimes the basking fish seem to be actually asleep. On August 

 11, 1906, an example about 9 inches long was seen basking among 

 the weeds near shore in the Inlet region and was nearly caught by 

 the hand before it escaped. It was reported that in the spring of 

 the same year a member of the Military Academy saw a large gar 

 in Culver Inlet and, wading in, stabbed it with a sword. It was 

 41 inches long and weighed 14 pounds. During the summer of 

 1907 little Gars about 6 inches long were occasionally seen basking 

 in shallow water near the shore of the upper Mississippi River, 

 at St. Paul and in Lake Pepin, and one was caught by hand. It 

 still had the long streamer or filamentous projection extending 

 from the upper lobe of the caudal ; a peculiar feature characteris- 



