Surely there are no gar in Montana. These fish are huge and toothy like an alligator. Someone would have noticed by now. But no. There is one species of gar that is native to Montana. It's the adorable shortnose gar, Lepisosteus platostomus.
Gar are a group of ancient freshwater primitive fish with only seven known species, all of which reside in North and Central America. All gar have armor-like, rectangular-shaped scales, toothy grins, elongated bodies and prominent snouts. Some species have been reported to grow to 350 pounds. Shortnose gar are considered one of the smaller species of gar. They are found across the U.S. in the Missouri and Mississippi river systems.
Shortnose gar prefer warm, slow-moving backwaters, and they tolerate turbidity better than other fish species. These kinds of waters are often lower in dissolved oxygen. Shortnose gar have an interesting advantage to improve survivability in these kinds of habitats. They can utilize their unique swim bladder, an organ used by most fish for buoyancy, as a sort of lung to extract atmospheric oxygen (air). Meaning they don't need dissolved oxygen in the water to survive like most other fish species. They can be seen gulping air at the surface.
Shortnose gar are brownish to olive green on the back, fading to white on the belly. They are cylindrical fish with elongated bodies that can grow up to 31 inches in length and up to 3.5 pounds in weight. Their dorsal and anal fins are set more toward the back, close to the spotted tail fin. They have an elongated snout with one row of teeth. Shortnose gar spawn in the spring by depositing their sticky egg clumps to vegetation. Their eggs are bright yellow to green in color and are highly toxic to mammals and birds.
Shortnose gar are a species of concern in Montana due to their limited distribution and low population densities. They reside in the slower waters of the Dredge Cuts below Fort Peck Dam but have been found in the lower Yellowstone and Milk rivers.
Shortnose gar are not a game fish in Montana as they are difficult to catch, their populations are low and they aren't very tasty. Also, don't eat their eggs. They are not radioactive caviar; you will not turn into a gar shaped, armored super hero. You will however get a massive stomachache. Despite their meat's lack of flavor and their toxic caviar they still melt our hearts with that toothy gar grin.