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Gar Id...


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#1 Guest_andyavram_*

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 08:55 AM

Sorry that I am posting a link but I didn't take the pictures.

I was in S. Illinois over the weekend on a herping trip and we came across a puddle (you can see it in the picture) that was FILLED with 100's of minnows, catfish, tadpoles and 4 Gar. Two of the gar were about 2'+ and the others were about 15" or so. No one other than me was a fish-nut and I plodded down and pulled the Gar out to have a look. I didn't have my bnook on me at the time so I was a little unsure of the species, but I am guessing Shortnose Gar. Right?

The pictures are a little ways down but you will see me holding the fish next to the mud and then on the ground.

http://www.fieldherp...pic.php?t=20916

Andy

#2 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 09:37 AM

I would agree on the Shortnose ID.

#3 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 10:55 AM

Looks like a fun trip! I've heard lots of ggod things about 'Snake Road'. By the way, the unidentified turtle is an old male red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) showing advanced reticulate melanism, and Illinois ratsnakes are now considered Pantherophis spiloides, regardless of color phase.

#4 Guest_andyavram_*

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 11:56 AM

Thanks for the ID confirmation.

Newt,
That wasn't my post but I think Justin was pretty sure it was a Red-eared Slider.

Burbrink's Rat Snake work seems to be mostly worthless when it came to naming new species and more than a few people aren't following it. Again it wasn't my post but I still think they are all the same species with mutliple subspecies, but that is a topic better suited for FHF circa 2003.

Andy

#5 Guest_blakemarkwell_*

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 05:52 PM

That is one really cool trip, it is such a shame that I live in Illinois, yet I have explored so little of Southern Illinois. I love amphibians and reptiles as well, but around my neck of the woods we do not have to worry about anything poisonous, therefore I have little experience with them, furthermore causing me to live in a little bit of fear of poisonous snakes in the South.

Blake

#6 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 06:48 PM

Andy,

How close to Snake Road? If you caught that fish in a slough off of the main water body due West of Snake Road, I'd be inclined to say spotted gar. If you caught it in the ditch further west as you near snake road, it very well could be either.

Quite a few of the spotted gar in that area have almost no distinct spotting we're used to seeing.

#7 Guest_Brooklamprey_*

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 06:47 AM

Andy,

How close to Snake Road? If you caught that fish in a slough off of the main water body due West of Snake Road, I'd be inclined to say spotted gar. If you caught it in the ditch further west as you near snake road, it very well could be either.

Quite a few of the spotted gar in that area have almost no distinct spotting we're used to seeing.


I think given the head and snout proportions, that it is a Shortnose. The head is rather short and the Snout is pretty broad for a fish that size. Admittedly I've had to look at the fish a few times now. It is kind of hard to get specific ID traits off the pics.

#8 Guest_andyavram_*

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 07:14 AM

It was a fun trip and I also got ot see my first Starhead Topminnows.

As for the locale it was a side trip about 45 minutes east of Snake Road.

Andy



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