We have already reported about the Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus), see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/lepisosteus-oculatus-2/. Now we have received small gars from Indonesia, which correspond in all characteristics to L. oculatus, but show a very striking silver luster. The smaller ones (6-8 cm) have a quite dark basic coloration, which brightens up clearly with somewhat larger animals (11-14 cm). We don’t know, but we can well imagine that the dark elements in the pattern are covered by silver even more with increasing growth.
Apparently, breeding operations in Indonesia are quite intensively concerned with deviating color forms in gars. Especially desired are platinum colored or reddish animals. Since Lepisosteus oculatus is already very variable by nature (there are six synonyms of the species, which in the past was often equated with L. platostomus, of which another three synonyms exist), the species lends itself to breeding experiments.
For our customers: the animals have code 848231 (6-8 cm) and 848238 (11-14 cm) on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
