Hi Guys & Gals,

A few of you already know me, but most of you won't. I'm Don Barclay, a rank amateur and new NANFA member but not really new to the site, since I've been reading it for some months. I've found it to be a great resource with some very knowledgeable participants and tons of excellent information. I grew up on the rivers and lakes of east Texas, and after an extended stay in the South Pacific, I'm back in the Houston area. Most of my past experience has been with Indo-Pacific fauna, particularly prosobranch gastropod molluscs, but I'm in the process of educating myself about the unionid fauna of Texas as well as the rest of the U.S., and the world at large, to some degree. As for fish, I'm particularly interested in the gar species, and have a little experience with them already. The other fish that fascinate me are the darters, although I have to depend on my kids to identify them for me until I can get them photographed and blown up, LOL. (My eyesight is THEORETICALLY still 20/20, but I certainly can't see the detail that my 10-year-old daughter can see.) I keep a few tanks with both natives and exotics, and have fish in a couple of ponds. Right now I have a 16-month-old Alligator Gar in a small pond, a YOTY Longnose Gar in a different pond, and a Spotted Gar in a 125 gallon tank with a few sunfish and a mussel or two. I also have an exotic tank with Peacock Bass and a Clown Knifefish, along with half a dozen species of the local freshwater snails. In the past I kept saltwater/reef tanks with a variety of inhabitants, including about 35 species of Cone Snails, Lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra), and a few species of eels (several Gymnothorax species as well as Pseudechidna brummeri).

Happy to be part of the group, let me know if I can be of assistance to any of you. Cheers,



Don

Welcome Don, we're glad to have you. My kids aren't yet 10 and they not only see everything but put me to shame in tests of hand eye coordination.
Sounds like you have a great fish collection and thanks for joining.

Hey Don
Always good to have another fellow gar fan on the site
Glad to have you here!

Welcome, Don! I hope you find your stay both enjoyable and informative!

Brian

Welcome Don, I am pretty new here myself but have learned quit a lot. Also, met several nice folks. I too have kept some Alligator Gar. I am curious to know how large your 16 month old gator gar actually measures? How and what do you feed the gator gar.

James