Alligator gar are often used as an indicator by fisheries biologists to determine the health of an ecosystem. With their numbers dwindling in the Ohio and upper Mississippi river systems, the scientific community is concerned about the future of the ancient fish.
To better understand alligator gar, students and researchers with the LSU AgCenter’s Aquaculture Research Station in Baton Rouge and Nicholls State University in Thibodaux are spawning gar in tanks to acquire brood stock for additional research projects.
Last year, the gar did not lay any eggs, and researchers said they believe the stress of being moved to new homes may have been the problem.
“When you handle fish like this, you have to be really careful of their own stress,” said Chris Green, an AgCenter researcher at the Aquaculture Research Station. “When they get stressed out, they can reabsorb their eggs, and they can fail to spawn.”
Research involves an element of persistence, and this year’s spawn was a success.
While alligator gar are disappearing in other river systems, these gar will not be used for restocking.
“We’re not actually interested in distributing theses larvae for restoration because we don’t want to mix these coastal genes with the main Ohio and Mississippi River (genes),” Green said.
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