I talked a little bit about gars.
As a grad student at the University of Oklahoma, Tony Echelle studied gars
in Lake Texoma, a saline reservoir on the Red River. One of his papers
addresses early life history and I think it provided info on how to
distinguish some species(see Echelle, A.A. and C.D. Riggs, 1972. Aspects of
the early life histories of gars in Lake Texoma. Transactions of the
American Fisheries Society 101: 106-112).
Shortly afterwards, Edward Wiley completely re-evaluated gar systematics
(see Wiley, E.O. The biology and phylogeny of fossil and recent gars. Misc
Pub. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History 64: 1-111), but I do not
recall if he addressed morphological characteristics of juveniles.
In 1990, Thomas Simon and Robert Wallus published an excellent key as part
of their chapter on gars and it includes specimens less than 30 mm! Chapter
is well illustratd and easy to use but does not include the Florida gar
(which of course you can only collect in Florida and a few spots in
Georgia). Key and chapter are in a book: "Reproductive biology and early
life history of fishes in the Ohio River drainage, Volume 1: Acipenseridae
through Esocidae," by Robert Wallus, Bruce Yeager, and Tom Simon, published
by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN, 273 pp. Section on gars
is pp. 59-86, key is pp. 60-62. This is a fantastic book that provides a
comprehensive summary on reproduction, identification, and early development
of fishes.
I'll be happy to photocopy the gar key for you if you like.
- Jan
-----Original Message-----
From: B.G. Granier
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2000 12:06 PM
To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
Subject: NANFA-- RE: Convention
Hi all,
Does anyone remember which speaker made reference to a Grad student doing a
key for identification of juvenile garfish? Was it Charles Knight, Rick
Mayden or maybe Bernie Kahuda? I need a copy of that key if someone has a
better memory than I, then I'll write the appropriate party for a copy or
reprint of it.
Also, I wish to recognize David Neely and Jay DeLong for the artwork and
production of the NANFA 2000 T-shirts and also Jim Graham for the "John
Deere green" caps with the NANFA 2000 logo on the front!
Thanks fellows!
Best Regards,
BG
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