to this loss by restricting the gar's access to the flood plain areas in which it spawns. Some U.S. states have enacted laws to combat overfishing, and reintroduction programs are being carried out in some states, such as Illinois, where human activity has extirpated the gar. Before being released, each gar must meet a length requirement to ensure that it has the best chance of survival in the wild. Some states, such as Texas, restrict the number of gar that may be caught in a day, the season in which they may be caught, and the equipment anglers may use to catch them. Some states also impose a minimum length requirement to prevent gar from being caught at too early an age. Scientists have found that the alligator gar can help maintain ecosystem balance by eating invasive species such as the Asian carp, and their success in a particular area can show scientists that area may also make a suitable habitat for other migratory species. Florida gar The Florida gar (Lepisosteus platyrhincus) can be found in the Ocklockonee river, Florida, and Georgia, and prefers muddy or sandy bottoms with bountiful vegetation. It is commonly confused with its cousin, the spotted gar. Uneven black spots cover its head, body, and fins. Green-brown scales run along the back of its body, and the scales on its underbelly are white or yellow. This coloration, which blends well with the gar's surroundings, allows it to ambush its prey. The Florida gar has no ganoid scales on its throat. Female Florida gars grow to lengths between 13 and 34 inches, bigger than their male counterparts. Spotted gar The spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) is a smaller species of gar, measuring just under four feet long and weighing 15 pounds on average. Like Florida gars, female spotted gars are typically larger than male spotted gars. This gar has dark spots covering its head, body, and fins. Its body is compact, and it has a shorter snout. It prefers to live in clearer shallow water with a depth of 3–5 meters, and to surround itself in foliage. Its habitat ranges from the waters of Lake Michigan, the Lake Erie Basin, the Mississippi River System, and river drainages along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the Nueces River in Texas east to the lower Apalachicola River in Florida. It shares its habitat with the alligator gar,