Gold Gar

[ZOO YORK 207]

So Mike......We are waiting for pics in your tank....

 

[Jakdarippa]

They are all farmed...Only rarely is a Gold or white fish found in the wild.

All of these ones in the hobby are being produced in aquaculture facilities. If I remember the odds correctly it is one in five thousand Tropicus that turn out white or Piebald in a given spawn. Given the fact a big mature female can lay 6,000+ eggs with 80% survival those are pretty good odds. I would not think the odds are any different for Alligator or Florida gars, naturally the amount of fry produced for a Gator or a Florida are slightly different.

Very informative...that definatly makes sense since bright colored fish in the wild are more likely to fall prey before they reach maturity. But by farmed what I meant to say is; Say you dump a bunch of colored gars in a pond for selective breeding.. would that then mean the spawn would reap 5000+ colored gar? - I think with the demand for these fish and pricetag... Someone out there is already working on it. Flower Gars could be coming to a FS near you..

 

[Polypterus]

Very informative...that definatly makes sense since bright colored fish in the wild are more likely to fall prey before they reach maturity. But by farmed what I meant to say is; Say you dump a bunch of colored gars in a pond for selective breeding.. would that then mean the spawn would reap 5000+ colored gar? - I think with the demand for these fish and pricetag... Someone out there is already working on it. Flower Gars could be coming to a FS near you..

It is not as simple as just putting a bunch of gold fish together..They are not a fixed strain but a random mutation that is expressed in only a few fish. A pair of Gold fish is likely to throw off 1000's of normal fish for ever 1 gold one.

The late age of maturity makes it very difficult to fix a strain with a fish like this. Unlike lets say guppies or cichlids, it takes 5 to 7 years for a female to mature and 4 to 5 years for a male.

Someone out there is already working on it.

you betcha there are some working on it

 

[csx4236]

If it is from that particular canal / impoundment in Florida (I'm not mentioning locality, sorry folks, I would have to kill you if I told you) it is pretty close to Aquacultured. Most of these come from there. Krauses first ones where from there as are Chads. Technically one could say they are wild caught but really they are a managed population and one of the major pools that supply the hobby with both the gold and normal colored fish.

Don't get me wrong here Mike..I'm not knocking your fish. These suckers are very rare and uncommon and it is a great addition to any Gar collection...

It is coming from the same pond as chads gars. Now your going to have to tell me the location so i can get there myself ? Will be waiting lol

 

[csx4236]

He wont be arriving till after next week but will post pictures as soon as it lands.

 

[Superlaz]

As already mentioned the Golds come from a loacale down here....don't know where....DM spotted a Gold tailed Gar on his last fishing trip down here that we saw. I think theres a pic up in the fishing section. I know an area with quite a surplus of FL Gars....in the Thousands at a time and they are all normal....as should be expected...except for one Black that I spotted a few months back...couldnt land it though. Wen I say black...I mean JET black...not breeding colors black...

 

[xander]

How much would a gold gar cost? Ballpark?

around 3-4k, depending on the highest bidder

 

[xander]

is there any way of differentiating a gold gator from a gold tropical or a normal cuban?

 

[Polypterus]

is there any way of differentiating a gold gator from a gold tropical or a normal cuban?

By their morphology...They really are very different fish.

 

[xander]

By their morphology...They really are very different fish.

morphology?