LEPISOSTEUS GARPIKES 35 



the southern part of its range. It is distributed in Illinois about 

 as L. osseus, occurring in 57 collections, from Rock River, the Illi- 

 nois, the Mississippi, and the Ohio. It is locally known by Illinois 

 River fishermen as the "duck-bill gar," though the name "short- 

 billed gar" is commoner. 



The spawning season at Havana in 1898 was May, while in 1899 

 it continued until August. Females with spent ovaries were taken 

 as early as May 10 by Dr. Kofoid in 1899. The habits of this gar are 

 not otherwise known to be different from those of the preceding 

 species. 



LEPISOSTEUS TRISTCECHUS (Bloch & Schneider) 

 (alligator-gar) 



Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Syst. Ichth., 395 (Esox). 



G., VIII, 329 (virldls); J. & G., 92 (Litholepis) ; M. V,, 36; J. & E., I, 111; N., 51 

 (adamanteus) ; J., 69 (Litholepis spathula) ; F., 84 (Litholepis) ; L., 8. 



Length 5 to 8 feet ; depth in length 8, in distance from eye to caudal 7 ; 

 length of caudal peduncle rather less than depth of body. Color greenish, 

 paler below, adult usually without spots. Head (including beak) 3.7 in 

 length; beak typically somewhat shorter and broader than in L. platos- 

 tdrnus, its length about 5.3 in distance from eye to caudal, its least width 

 about 4 \ in its length. Dorsal rays 8; anal 8. Lateral line 56; trans- 

 verse series 22. Description based on a mounted specimen 6 feet 6-j 

 inches in length to base of caudal, owned by Mr. Sherman Reubel, 

 Grafton, 111. Specimen 7ft. 2 in. long in State Museum at Springfield. 

 Specimen 5 ft. 6 in. long in University of Illinois Museum. 



The home of the alligator-gar is in the streams of the Gulf of 

 Mexico, from Mexico to Cuba. It ascends the Mississippi above 

 St. Louis, and has occasionally been taken in the lower Illinois 

 River. It is said by Dr. Jordan to reach a length of 20 feet. 



Little is definitely known of the habits of this species. Many 

 stories have been told of its gigantic size and ferocious and uncanny 

 habits, some of them doubtless more or less fanciful. A picturesque 

 and valuable account of the habits of the alligator-gar by Geo. P. 

 Dunbar, a Southern naturalist, may be consulted in the American 

 Naturalist for May, 1882, pp. 383-385. Its size and strength are such 

 that the ordinary apparatus of the river fisherman will not hold it 

 unless it chances to be caught at some unusual disadvantage, and 

 it is consequently rather rarely seen. Its powers of destruction 

 must be enormous, and it seems to take, in the fresh waters of the 

 country, the place filled by sharks in the high seas. It was formerly 



