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Encyclopedia / Oddballs & Predators / Spotted gar
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Photo by Matthew Inabinett, CC BY · source · credits

Variations

1 kinds · tap one for a closer look

Spotted gar

Lepisosteus oculatus · Gar

Calm predator that eats small fish.

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90 cmAdult size ✓
UnknownTemperature ?
UnknownpH ?
UnknownSmallest tank ?
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This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.

Not recommended
  • Spotted gar eats animals up to about 20 cm. Neon tetra only grows to 2.5 cm.
Not recommended
  • Spotted gar eats animals up to about 20 cm. Cardinal tetra only grows to 3 cm.
Not recommended
  • Spotted gar eats animals up to about 20 cm. Black neon tetra only grows to 3.2 cm.
Facts checked against sources on 16 Oct 2026. ✓ means a source backs it; ? means no reliable source yet. See sources

Care and water

Hardness ?Unknown
Group size ?Can live alone
Temperament ?Aggressive
Swims at ✓Top
Care level ?Hard
Diet Carnivore
Lifespan ✓up to 18 years
Size in shops 10–15 cm
Growth Fast

Behavior

Calm predator that eats small fish.

Good to know: Permit-only or banned in some regions.

Food

Fish, prawns, carnivore pellets.

Tap a food to see what it is.

Male or female

Females are generally larger than males, with longer bodies and longer snouts.

Health

Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.

Breeding

Rarely bred in captivity ·

Spawns in spring (February-June depending on location), triggered by longer days and water warming past about 15 °C, with spawning at about 21-26 °C. Sticky eggs are laid on aquatic vegetation. Matures at about 4 years.

Pairing

Adults.

Setup

Ponds.

What starts it

Spring warming.

Eggs

Thousands of eggs (one study averaged 13,789 per female); eggs are sticky, about 2.5 mm, attached to plants, and hatch in about a week. Eggs may be toxic to some animals.

Raising the fry

Live food then fish.

Common mistakes
  • Space
  • Cannibalism
  • Jumping
Full breeding guide, day-by-day plan and simulator →

Where it lives in the wild

RegionEastern North America – Great Lakes to Gulf Coast
Rivers and lakesMississippi basin, Lake Erie and Gulf Coast rivers
HabitatClear, vegetated lakes and slow rivers
Native rangeAbout 1,200 km across
See it on the world map

The story of the spotted gar

One of the smaller gars (rarely over 91 cm). It gulps air at the surface into a swim bladder that works as a primitive lung.

American geologist and naturalist Alexander Winchell described the spotted gar in 1864. Gars belong to an ancient group of ray-finned fishes with hard, diamond-shaped scales. The spotted gar is now used by scientists as a model for comparing fish and human genomes.

First described by Alexander Winchell in 1864.

  • Like all snakeheads, it breathes air at the surface.
  • Gars have tough, diamond-shaped ganoid scales.
  • Its genome was sequenced to help link fish and mammal genetics.

Sources

12 facts checked with sources