Alligator gar

This fish is popular amongst bowfishers because of its size and tendency to brawl. An interesting anatomical feature of this fish is that its buoyancy bladder is directly connected to its throat, giving it the ability to draw in air from above the water. For this reason, alligator gar are often found near the surface of a body of water, making them an easy target for bow fishers. The alligator gar is an aggressive, solitary fish that lives in fresh water bodies in the southeastern U.S. It is carnivorous. However, it is not ordinarily aggressive towards humans. Alligator Gar feeds by lurking amongst reeds and other underwater plant life, waiting for food to pass by. Though subsisting mostly on fish, the alligator gar will also eat waterfowl. The alligator gar is the largest species of gar and is the largest exclusively freshwater fish in North America. It can be as long as eight to twelve feet and often weighs at least 100pounds at maturity. The current world record alligator gar weighed 279 pounds and was caught in the Rio Grandee River in 1951. Even larger alligator gars — over 300 pounds — have been caught