CHAPTER LVIII 



THE ORDER OF GAR FISHES, OR GANOIDS 



GINGL YMODI 



To the scientific student, the Gar Pike of the 

 middle eastern states, and the big Alligator 



Gar of the Gulf states are two of the most inter- 

 esting fishes of our whole finny fauna. They 

 are the living representatives of a wonderful lot 

 of dead-and-gone species which many thousand 

 years ago laid the foundations of the fish world. 

 By means of the impregnable bony armor with 

 which Nature wisely provided them, they have 

 been able to withstand the attacks of the enemies 

 that otherwise would have exterminated them. 



The simplest, and therefore the earliest, forms 

 of fishes are some of the Gan'oids, — as the ar- 

 mored fishes are called, — whose remains now exist 

 only in the rocks of the Devonian 

 age, far doT\Ti toward the strata which 

 were formed ?feef ore life was. The 

 first of these fishes — and they were 

 well-nigh the first of all fishes — had 

 their heads completely encased in 

 solid bone, their eyes were placed in 

 the tops of their heads, and they must 

 have hved upon the bottom of the sea. And who 

 shall say how many years have passed since the 

 days when their dead bodies sank in the mud 

 along the shores they frequented? To-day they 

 are found high up in the rocky cliffs of Devon- 

 shire; England. 



It must be remembered, however, that the ar- 

 mored fishes were not the only ones which existed 

 in those early days. The same rocks have yielded 

 to science the remains of lung-fishes, sharks, and 

 sturgeons; but the so-called "bony fishes" of to- 

 day were undoubtedly of later development than 

 the foregoing. 



Our two Gar Fishes are therefore to be regarded 

 as living relics of the Devonian age, or "Age of 

 Fishes. " There are others ; but for an introduction 

 to them, as well as the fossil forms, the reader is 

 referred to Le Conte's "Geology." 



The Long-Nosed Gar Pike' is the species 

 ' Lep-i-dos'te-us os'se-us. 



which is nearest at hand, and most accessible to 

 teachers and students. It is found in the great 

 lakes, and in large streams generally from New 

 Jersey to Mexico, and northward in the Mis- 

 sissippi valley to Minnesota. It is frequently 

 called the Bill-Fish and the Gar. It is said to be 

 destructive to the young of other fishes, but Dr. 

 Goode declares that fish remains are "rarely 

 found in its stomach." Its flesh is unfit for food, 

 and, except to educators, the fish is valueless. It 

 is said to attain a maximum length of from 5 to 6 

 feet, but specimens exceeding 3 feet are very rare, 

 and the majority are certainly under that length. 

 The armor of this fish is more perfect than any 



LONG-NO.SED GAR PIKE. 



plate armor that man could make for it. It con- 

 sists of diagonal whorls of solid and highly polished 

 plates of bone, each divided into scale-like sec- 

 tions, and so hinged together that while fully pro- 

 tected the fish has abundant freedom of move- 

 ment. The dried skin of a Gar Pike is as hard and 

 unyielding as a cylinder of sheet iron. 



In about the same waters as the preceding 

 species, and very much like it, lives the Short- 

 Nosed Gar Pike (Lepidos'teus platys'tomus). 



The Alligator Gar^ is a giant in comparison 

 with both the abo\'e species, sometimes attaining 

 6 feet in length. It is essentially a fish of the 

 South, and inhaljits the large streams — and also 

 many small ones — of all the (!ulf states, Mexico 

 and Cuba. It is readily recognized by its short 

 and broad snout, which is strongly suggestive of 

 the head of an alligator. 



As an instance of the manner in which fishes 

 ^ Lep-i-dos'te-un npa(u-la. 



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