COMMON FISHES OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
157 
by a series of movements it succeeds in getting it into a proper position for swallowing, 
as is the habit of alligators and lizards.” (Agassiz, 1859, referring to young gars.) 
They are voracious from an early age. Forbes and Richardson found 16 minute 
minnows in the stomach of a long-nosed gar only 2 inches long and one-eighth inch 
deep. Others had small Cladocera. Mark (1890) regarded small insect larvse 
(mosquito larvse) as the principal food of very young gars. 8 All other observers 
agree that fish are the principal food of older gar pikes. Pearse, from observation in 
Madison Lake, Wis., found that fish comprised nearly 90 per cent of the food of 10 
specimens examined. (Fish, 88.8; insect larvae, 10.2; adult insects, 1.) Stringham 
(in connection with this investigation) noted the stomach contents of 20 examples of 
long-nosed gar taken at Keokuk; 9 contained nothing, 9 contained fish (one of these 
having a minnow and an insect larva), and 3 contained insect larvse. He also observed 
the stomach contents of 41 short-nosed gar, 27 of which were empty, 6 contained fish, 
4 insects, 1 crawfish, and 3 undetermined matter, apparently straw and seed. These 
are apparently the first recorded observations of the food of this species of gar. 
While the food of gars is chiefly fish, there seems to be no record of their preying 
upon game fish. No doubt they do, but their injurious effect upon other fishes is 
probably based primarily upon their effective competition with other predatory fishes 
for the limited food supply. 
The gar of the Mississippi Basin are variable in appearance and there has been 
some difference of opinion as to the number of species. According to common usage, 
there are three species in the United States 9 — the long-nosed gar or billfish, the short- 
nosed gar, and the alligator gar. The last-mentioned fish, which is said to attain a 
length of 20 feet, probably never ascends the Mississippi far above the mouth of the 
Illinois River and may be excluded from consideration. These three species comprise 
the sole representatives of a family that seems to have thrived at least as far back as 
the Carboniferous age, if not earlier. The genus Lepisosteus goes back to early 
Tertiary times. To-day it is found only in North and Central America and in Cuba. 
In the United States gar pikes are found in the Atlantic, Gulf, Mississippi, and Great 
Lakes drainages. The restricted distribution of the family is the more remarkable 
since the gar pikes are not altogether averse to salt water. (Smith, 1907, p. 59.) 
Their distribution indicates that they can withstand both high and low temperatures, 
although they are active only when the water is relatively warm. In cold weather 
the habit of coming to the surface is discontinued, and the fish remain below in a 
dormant or benumbed condition. Their strong armor protects them effectively 
against the depredations of other fishes. 
Long-nosed gar. Lepisosteus osseus Linnseus 
BILLFISH 
The long-nosed gar is the most widely distributed species, occurring throughout 
the Mississippi and Great Lakes drainages, on the Atlantic coast, and even in Mexico, 
and frequenting the larger streams or sluggish waters. Most of the observations that 
have been published on the breeding habits of gar pike probably relate to this species. 
8 Apparently they will not bite at any object unless it is in active motion. They will, however, sometimes push an insect larva 
about until it demonstrates its vitality by actual motion, when it will be snapped up by a sideward movement of the bill. (Mark, 
1890.) 
* Fowler (1910), from study of museum collections, has proposed a number of species and a new genus. An account of the dis- 
tribution of the several species is not attempted. His paper was not available when our observations were made, and we can not 
relate our observations to his diagnoses. 
