The shortnose gar (Lepisosteus platostomus) is a primitive freshwater fish of the family Lepisosteidae. It is native to the United States where its range includes the Mississippi and Missouri River basins, ranging from Montana to the west and the Ohio River to the east, southwards to the Gulf Coast. It inhabits calm waters in large rivers and their backwaters, as well as oxbow lakes and large pools. It is a long, slender fish, brown or olive green above and whitish below. It typically grows to about and is armored by rows of interlocking, rhomboidal ganoid scales. The shortnose gar is an ambush predator, feeding mostly on fish, but also consuming crustaceans, insects, and other invertebrates. Breeding takes place in spring when females, often accompanied by several males, attach their eggs to clumps of submerged vegetation. The eggs, which are toxic to man, hatch after a week or so. After consuming their yolk sac, the young fish feed on insect larvae and small crustaceans, maturing at an age of about three years. Description Shortnose gar have a prehistoric-looking appearance. Like many other "lie-in-wait" predators, they have an elongated, torpedo-like body with an elongated head containing one row of sharp, conical teeth. Similar to many Paleozoic and Mesozoic actinopterygians, their bodies are covered in rows of interlocking, rhomboidal ganoid scales that create an exceptionally protective, yet flexible armor around the fish. The dorsal fin is located posterior nearly directly above the anal fin and very near the large caudal fin. Shortnose gar vary in color, changing from brown/olive green on the dorsal surface to yellow on the sides and white on the underbelly. Shortnose gar can be discerned from other gar species in that they lack the upper jaw of the alligator gar, the long snout of the longnose gar, and the markings of the spotted gar. The shortnose gar reaches up to , but a more common length is . Habitat Shortnose gar generally inhabit calm waters in large rivers and their backwaters, as well as oxbow lakes and large, quiet pools, typically around vegetation or downed logs. Gar have the ability to survive in environments with very little oxygen and especially turbid conditions because of their specialized gas bladder. Gar gas bladders have the ability to function like a lung to extract and use oxygen from swallowed air in addition to regulating buoyancy. Reproduction and lifecycle Shortnose gar typically spawn