BioKIDS home

Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species

Local animals in this group:

gars

Lepisosteidae

The gar family is made up of 7 species found in eastern North America and Central America, from Quebec to Costa Rica. They are also found on Cuba. They are long, tubular-shaped fish with very long jaws armed with needle sharp teeth. They are usually found in shallow, weedy areas. They do well in water that is low in oxygen content because they are capable of gulping air into their swim bladders and don’t just rely on getting oxygen through their gills. They “breath” air by coming to the surface and taking in a mouth full of air. They can get very large, up to 3 meters in the alligator gar of the southeastern United States. Gars are slow-moving fish but are also voracious predators, grabbing fish and crustaceans in their sharp teeth.

 
University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyNational Science Foundation

BioKIDS home  |  Questions?  |  Animal Diversity Web  |  Cybertracker Tools

. "Lepisosteidae" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed March 19, 2024 at http://www.biokids.umich.edu/accounts/Lepisosteidae/

BioKIDS is sponsored in part by the Interagency Education Research Initiative. It is a partnership of the University of Michigan School of Education, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and the Detroit Public Schools. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL-0628151.
Copyright © 2002-2024, The Regents of the University of Michigan. All rights reserved.

University of Michigan