Thanks for confirmation Dr. Luke. I also learned that the picture you posted above is a male fish. The male bowfin have the telltale black spot on the tail. They also do not get very large. The one in the picture above looks female although can't see the entire tail. The one in the picture looks big enough to be a female as well. I've read they are aggressive and can bite anglers just to be nasty. I hope this angler was cautious around those teeth! They are omnivores and often even show cannibalistic behavior. I'll think twice about swimming there with all those toothy gars and aggressive dogfish/bowfins... In reality the relatives have been swimming in that area for some time with no issues. Not even getting nipped by bluegill
Or called a grinnel. A buddy in Arkansas caught a 15# one while fishing for Largemouth just a few days ago.
If they bite an angler, I'm sure that the angler stuck his fingers in it's mouth. Usually fish stay away from larger critters than themselves if they can.
