#2362 · 🐟 fish
Spotted Gar
Lepisosteus oculatus
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Phil's 1stPix · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 2. © Jacob Stagg · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Adrian Macedo · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Alyssa Harvey · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Nick Loveland · CC0
- 6. © Alan See · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Real, Texas, United States:© Kristiina Hurme · CC BY 4.0
- 8. Ohio, US:© jbelback · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Oklahoma, US:© Thomas Shahan · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Brazoria County, TX, USA:© Wendy McCrady · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
The spotted gar ( Lepisosteus oculatus ) is a primitive freshwater fish of the family Lepisosteidae, native to North America from the Lake Erie and southern Lake Michigan drainages south through the Mississippi River basin to Gulf Slope drainages, from lower Apalachicola River in Florida to Nueces River in Texas, USA. It has a profusion of dark spots on its body, head, and fins. Spotted gar are long and have an elongated mouth with many teeth used to...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 3,999 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Alexander Winchell in 1864 (162 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Spotted Gar
- scientific name
- Lepisosteus oculatus
- class
- Actinopterygii
- order
- Lepisosteiformes
- family
- Lepisosteidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 3,999
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1864 by Alexander Winchell
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Lepisosteidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 104249, Wikidata Q779340, GBIF 2346692, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.