food source. They occasionally ingest sport fish, but the majority of stomach content studies suggest they feed predominately on forage fishes such as gizzard shad as well as invertebrates and water fowl. However, brackish water populations of alligator gar are known to feed heavily on blue crabs in addition to fish such as the hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis). Diet studies have also revealed fishing tackle and boat-engine parts in their stomachs.<ref name="TPWDgar">{{cite web | url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/nonpwdpubs/media/gar_status_073108.pdf | title=Life History and Status of Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula), with Recommendations for Management | publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department | work=Heart of Hills Fisheries Science Center | date=July 31, 2008 | access-date=July 7, 2014 | author=Buckmeier, David L. | page=5}}</ref> Spawning As with most ancestral species, alligator gar are long-lived, and sexually late maturing. Most females do not reach sexual maturity until after their first decade of life, while males reach sexual maturity in half that time. The conditions must be precise for a successful spawning to occur. Preparation for spawning begins in the spring with the extended photoperiod and rising water temperatures, but flooding is also necessary to trigger the event. When rivers rise and spread over the floodplain, they create oxbow lakes and sloughs, and inundate terrestrial vegetation, which in turn provides protection and a nutrient-rich habitat for larval fish and fry. Once the water temperature has reached , and all the other criteria are met, gar move into the grassy, weed-laden shallows to spawn. Actual spawning occurs when males gather around gravid females, and begin writhing, twisting, bumping into, and slithering over the tops of females, an activity which triggers the release of eggs. Males release clouds of milt to fertilize the eggs as they are released into the water column. The sticky eggs then attach to submerged vegetation, and development begins. Only a few days are needed for the eggs to hatch into larval fish, and another 10 days or so for the larval fish to detach from the vegetation and start moving about as young fry. Egg production is variable, and believed to be dependent on the size of the female. A common formula used for predicting the number of eggs a female can produce is 4.1 eggs/gram of body weight, which gives an average of about 150,000 eggs per spawn. The eggs of alligator gar are bright red and poisonous to humans if ingested. Distribution Natural range Alligator