Gar
Gar, a freshwater fish having long beaklike jaws armed with sharp teeth. Gars are also known as garfish and gar pikes. They are believed to be related to similar fish that existed in prehistoric times. The long, cylindrical body of the gar is covered with tough, diamond-shaped scales. The dorsal and anal fins are located just in front of the tail. Gars live chiefly in lakes, streams, and estuaries of eastern and central North America, particularly those of the lower Mississippi Valley. Although popular as game fish, they are worthless as food.
The principal species of gars are the longnose, shortnose, and alligator gars. Longnose gars have small, tapering heads and long, slender snouts. They sometimes reach a length of five feet (1.5 m) and weigh up to 50 pounds (23 kg). Shortnose gars have short, slender bodies, and large teeth in the upper jaws. They rarely exceed three feet (90 cm) in length. They live chiefly in the muddy rivers of the South. Alligator gars have short, stout snouts, and are extremely large; the largest are 10 feet (3 m) long and weigh 300 pounds (136 kg). They are found in rivers along the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas.
The Atlantic needlefish and the halfbeak, found off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, are often incorrectly called gars.
The longnose gar is Lepisosteus osseus; shortnose, L. platostomus; alligator gar, L. spatula or Atractosteus spatula. The gar family is Lepisosteidae.