Gator Gar Teeth Regenerate?

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G

Gar keeper

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 19, 2009
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In a pond with Gars snapping at me
Just wondering if anyone knows forsure if their teeth grow back. My boy hates the magfloat™ and last time I was cleaning the tank he attacked the Magfloat™ and lost 2 of his most beautiful teeth. :irked:

Now I'm going back to look at TLkmDN's thread of his pond with his 2 large Gator Gar :headbang2
 
I would think so, since they're pretty likely to knock teeth out occasionally in the wild as well.
 
I've often wondered this same thing. I've seen very young-looking alligator gar in the 7-foot range that weren't missing any teeth at all, which made me think they probably replaced lost teeth. But, I've seen apparently-gerontic specimens in the same size range that were missing most of their teeth. Here's one from an overpopulated area that had run out of food. About 75% of her teeth are either broken or missing. The gar in this area were apparently eating each other, so maybe this was a case of breaking teeth faster than they could be replaced, or....maybe not? Maybe the older ones are less capable of replacing teeth, assuming the young ones actually do so?

Cheers,



PagoJoe
teeth20x.jpg
 
I spoke with Steve of the GarGuys today, and he said yes, they do replace the teeth as they are broken out or shed. He said there is a pedastal that supports each tooth, and as soon as one is removed, another starts growing, straight up, in the same spot. He agreed that the gerontic specimens may not be as efficient at replacing teeth as the younger fish.



PagoJoe
 
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