Alligator gar
Amazing fact
The alligator gar's swim bladder can work like a lung.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The alligator gar's swim bladder can work like a lung.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Alligator gar
- Scientific name
- Atractosteus spatula
- Japanese name
- アリゲーターガー
- Group
- Freshwater animals
- Order
- Lepisosteiformes
- Family
- Lepisosteidae
- Genus
- Atractosteus
Where the name “Alligator gar” comes from
Its scientific name spatula means spoon in Latin, referring to its broad snout.
Texas Parks and Wildlife DepartmentA large fish that lives in big rivers, lakes and swampy creeks, such as those of the Mississippi River system.
It looks like an alligator, with a long, slender body and jaws lined with many teeth.
It may look sluggish, but it lies in wait and strikes quickly at fish, ducks, turtles and other prey.
How the Alligator gar lives
It sometimes floats at the water's surface. Newly hatched young stay attached to water plants. After absorbing their yolk, the young leave the plants and start looking for food.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebU.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceBasic data
- Size
- up to 3 m
- Weight
- up to 137 kg
- Lifespan
- 26–50 years in the wild, up to 50 years in the wild
- Diet
- Fish, ducks, turtles, small mammals, carrion and other prey
- Range
- Ohio River, Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, and drainages of the southeastern coastal United States
Where the Alligator gar has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- アリゲーターガー
- 简体中文
- 福鳄
- 繁體中文
- 福鱷
- 한국어
- 앨리게이터가아
- Español
- Catán
- Français
- Garpique alligator
- Deutsch
- Alligatorhecht
- Português (Brasil)
- Peixe-jacaré
- Italiano
- Luccio alligatore
- العربية
- التمساح غار
- Русский
- Миссисипский панцирник
- Türkçe
- Timsah balığı
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — アリゲーターガーChecked: 2026-11-04
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Atractosteus spatulaChecked: 2026-11-04
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Alligator GarChecked: 2026-11-05
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — Alligator GarChecked: 2026-11-05
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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