A young boy catches this “freaky deaky” fishgator creature at Kiwanis Lake in Tempe. An Alligator Gar (Fishgator) was caught by Jose Chavez recently at Kiwanis lake. Jose says, “I see fish like this on the Discovery Channel,” he said.
But this weird creature isn’t something you would expect to see in Kiwanis Lake in Tempe.Jose and his father fish Kiwanis Lake frequently. The evening they caught what appears to be an alligator gar or fishgator, they had tried out a new kind of bait - real chicken liver.
The alligator gar, Atractosteus spatula, is a primitive ray-finned fish. Its also referred to as the gator gar. Unlike other gars, the mature alligator gar possesses a dual row of large teeth in the upper jaw. These remarkably alligator-like teeth, along with its snout, give it its name. The dorsal surface of the alligator gar is a brown or olive-color, while the ventral surface tends to be a lighter color. Their scales are diamond-shaped and interlocking (ganoid) and are sometimes used by Native Americans for jewelry.
Also unlike other gars, the alligator gar is capable of breathing air and can survive up to two hours above water.
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 100 pounds at maturity. The current world record alligator gar weighed 279 pounds and was caught in the Rio Grande River in 1951. Even larger alligator gars — over 300 pounds — have been caught by trotliners.
