how many different types of gar fish are there
Gar Gars (or garpike) are members of the Lepisosteiformes (or Semionotiformes), an ancient holosteian order of ray-finned fish; fossils from this order are known from the late Cretaceous onwards. The family Lepisosteidae includes seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine, waters of eastern North America, Central America and the Caribbean islands.[2][3] Gars have elongated bodies that are heavily armored with ganoid scales,[4] and fronted by similarly elongated jaws filled with long, sharp teeth. All of the gars are relatively large fish, but the alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) is the largest, as specimens have been reported to be 3 m (9.8 ft) in length;[5] however, they typically grow to 2 m (6.6 ft) and weigh over 45.3 kg (100 lb).[6] Unusually, their vascularised swim bladders can function as lungs,[1] and most gars surface periodically to take a gulp of air. Gar flesh is edible and the hard skin and scales of gars are used by humans.
Long Island Sound The most common marine fish in the Sound include porgy, butterfish, winter flounder, summer flounder, windowpane flounder, fourspot flounder, northern and striped sea robin, little skate, menhaden, Atlantic silversides, black seabass, blackfish (tautog), cunner, bluefish, and smooth dogfish. Frequently Atlantic bonito and false albacore, both members of the tuna family, enter the sound and can be caught by anglers from small boats and shore. Many species have declined rapidly since 1975 due to over fishing. Winter flounder may not be currently present except for rare, small local populations. Tautog and summer flounder are also less numerous. Anadromous fishes include striped bass, white perch, alewives, blueback herring, and American and hickory shad. Although several shark species likely infrequently wander in and out of the Sound, e.g. blue shark, mako shark, hammerhead shark & thresher shark, there are only four species of sharks which are regularly found in the area. These are the sand tiger shark, the sandbar shark, the spiny dogfish and the smooth dogfish.[8]