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Size, Age & Growth
The alligator gar is one of the largest freshwater fishes in North America and is the largest of the gar species. Young gars have an adhesive disc on the underside of the snout that they use to attach to objects on the bottom until the yolk sac is absorbed. Young gars also have a dorsal caudal filament at the posterior end of the upturned vertebral column, which atrophies and disappears in adults. Gars are slow growing fish, with female alligator gars reaching sexual maturity around age 11 and living to age 50. Male alligator gars mature around age 6 and live at least 26 years. Alligator gars commonly grow to a size of 6 1/2ft (2 m) and over 100 lbs. (45kg). But have been reported to grow up to 350 lbs. and around 10 ft (3m) in length. The largest recorded alligator gar comes from the St. Francis River, Arkansas in the 1930's, and weighed 350 lbs (159 kg).