FOSSIL  FISH

Texas fisherman's alligator gar earns him 'outstanding angler award' from state: 'Amazing catch'

Cortney Moore
Wed, September 6, 2023 

An alligator gar in Texas has earned one fisherman an award from state authorities.

John Harrington earned an "Outstanding Angler Award" from the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) division for his "GAR-gantuan" catch in July.

The wildlife agency announced Harrington’s noteworthy alligator gar on Friday, Aug. 25, in a public Facebook post.

207-POUND ALLIGATOR GAR CAUGHT IN TEXAS BREAKS LOCAL RECORD, APPEARS LONGER THAN FISHERMAN

"John Harrington caught this GAR-gantuan alligator gar out of the Trinity River on July 18 with a rod and reel," the TPWD wrote in its Facebook announcement.

"He earned an Outstanding Angler Award for his incredible catch," the post continued. "The gar was released to swim another day."

Exact measurements of Harrington’s alligator gar are not known since the fish was caught and released, a spokesperson for the TPWD told Fox News Digital.

"The angler did not have any weight or length data that we could verify, so he earned an Outstanding Angler Award to commemorate his amazing catch," the TPWD’s spokesperson wrote in an email.

Alligator gars are a ray-finned fish that can tolerate a wide range of salinity, according to multiple wildlife encyclopedias and glossaries.

ALABAMA FATHER AND SON CATCH RECORD-BREAKING, 162-POUND ALLIGATOR GAR

Fish identification guides published by the TPWD state that alligator gar have "short" and "wide" snouts that have a "distinct" appearance, which many say resembles that of an alligator when viewed from above.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife reports that alligator gar are species that's "as old as the dinosaurs" and lives in rivers, reservoirs and estuaries throughout the state.

"Alligator gar can be huge, reaching lengths of up to 10 feet and weighing over 300 pounds," the TPWD wrote in its "How to Identify Alligator Gar" webpage.

"It is the second-largest freshwater fish in North America, second only to the white sturgeon," the TPWD continued.

In May 2023, the TPWD recognized a Texas angler for breaking the alligator gar record in Lake Corpus Christi with a 90-inch, 207-pound catch.

Paul Hefner of Texas caught a 7.5-foot alligator gar from Lake Corpus Christi, Texas, which broke the local fishing record for alligator gar.

The Texas state record for an alligator gar caught by rod-and-reel is 279 pounds, and it was established on Jan. 1, 1951, by angler Bill Valverde, who caught the fish from the Rio Grande.

The TPWD also has verified records of alligator gar that have been caught with various methods, including fly rods (56.25 inches, 40.7 pounds), bow and arrows (96 inches, 290 pounds), catch-and-release rod-and-reels (89 inches) and other means (302 pounds, 90 inches).

The current world record for the largest alligator gar belongs to Kenny Williams of Vicksburgh, Mississippi, who accidentally caught a 327-pound alligator gar that was over 8 feet in length from Lake Chotard in 2011, according to the TPWD.

The alligator gar got tangled in Williams’ fishing net before he caught it with a rod and reel. Experts estimated the world-record fish was around 95 years old.

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Mackenthun: Texas fishing trip includes chasing dinosaur fish

By Scott Mackenthun Special to The Free Press
Aug 22, 2021

Columnist Scott Mackenthun shows the 5 1/2-foot alligator gar caught on the Trinity River in Texas.
Photos by Scott Mackenthun, special to the Free Press



Covered in tough, armor-like ganoid scales, alligator gar are incredible to behold in person.
Scott Mackenthun, special to The Free Press

A random game of chance brought about last week’s first encounter with an alligator gar.

While I get outdoors as much as possible, there still was a rut forming through the familiarity of time spent homebound during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. I started getting the itch to travel a couple months ago, and I dared to dream about a destination fishing trip.

Alligator gar came to my mind, and I spent idle time googling the giant fish and following Texas gar fishing guides on social media. Whether it was browser cookies or social media algorithms, I came across a lot of alligator gar content that got the angling juices flowing.

One night, I saw a post from one of the Texas gar guides that his outfit would raffle a guided fishing trip. Entries were $10 with 20 spots available.

I figured that the entry fee was a ticket to daydream, just like a lot of people buy a Powerball ticket when the jackpot runs large. If I didn’t win, and the odds were against me, it hadn’t cost me much and it permitted me to imagine a getaway trip.

A week went by and I forgot about the raffle. One night, I took my brother-in-law fishing on the Mississippi River and was flipping through my phone when I came across the raffle being conducted live. I turned it on just in time to see my number and name get called. I’d won the trip!

Carlos Guerrero of Trinity River Gar Fishing got me on the schedule for a mid-August date, and I booked my airfare. I managed to schedule some other fishing and exploring while in Dallas.

On the eve of the big trip, I waited out a torrential downpour inside the Texas Parks and Wildlife Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. Guerrero messaged me that the rain had hit Dallas hard, ending with just under two inches. The Trinity River rose four or five feet.

Being a river angler, I knew what it meant — the river would run high and dirty, throwing off the fish and fishing until things settled down.

The day started with a 25% chance of storms and ended in a deluge. Had my luck turned? Would my trip be cancelled or a bust? Guerrero had an idea — there was a spot he could take me, not in his boat but walking in, where we’d have a chance at some gar on a part of the river that may have missed much of the rain.

Not one to be afraid of a little hike, I was ready to give it a try and, at the very least, go down swinging.

Alligator gar have had a persecuted existence in the post-settlement United States. Long misunderstood as a nuisance or trash fish, they were wiped out of a large part of their native range by indiscriminate killing recommended by state or federal natural resource authorities, as well as habitat loss.

In the early 20th century, anglers would catch alligator gar via hook and line while another in the boat would shoot the fish with a bow or rifle when it jumped.

Today, a segment of the angling public targets the giant fish for catch-and-release fishing, and management agencies have taken steps to protect and preserve the predator, recognizing it as a valuable member of the native ecosystem.

A number of states value the alligator gar for its potential role in helping control invasive carp. Alligator gar are euryhaline, meaning they can adapt to various levels of salinity in marshes, swamps, brackish estuaries and bays in the Gulf of Mexico.

Alligator gar have ganoid scales, a specialized scale that is nearly impenetrable and tough like a covering of hard armor. These gar are living dinosaurs, an earned title since the fish is relatively unchanged in the fossil record dating back over 100 million years.

As with other primitive fishes, they have retained many ancient characteristics, like the ability to breathe atmospheric air through their swim bladder. Alligator gar is the largest species in the gar family, can grow up to 10 feet long and are estimated to live up to 100 years.

Guerrero came to north Dallas from Mexico at the age of 3. He learned English, holds a work visa for residency and has plans to pursue full citizenship.

Fishing was always in his blood. Once he became smitten with alligator gar, he didn’t want to fish for anything else.

Alligator gar anglers run in small circles, and he kept bumping into a friend that wanted to learn more. Over time, he came to trust Walter Murga, and together, the pair guides anglers through Trinity River Gar Fishing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Murga came to Irving, Texas, from El Salvador at the age of 6. Like Guerrero, he learned English as a second language and plans to turned his visa into citizenship.

The sun has just risen as Guerrero and Murga met me on a nondescript road beyond the outlying southern suburbs of Dallas. It was steamy and hot, a product of the rain the evening before.

A half-mile walk took us along an isolated stretch of the Trinity River. There was just enough light to make out dark shapes just below the river’s lazily flowing, olive-drab surface — the black outlines of schools of buffalo fish.

Rebar mounted rod holders were pushed into the viscous Texas mud on the stream’s banks at openings in the treeline that gave us a good view upstream and down. Long, heavy action rods with 100-pound braided line cast huge chunks of cut up carp on small treble hooks on wire leaders, loosely equivalent to northerners using quick strike rigs for northern pike on tip-ups.

“Now we wait,” Carlos said as the last rod is cast.

Texas has no limits on fishing rods used, but to keep things from getting tangled, we launched six baits into the river at equally spaced intervals. Guerrero and Murga watched line and rod tips carefully, the mark of good live and dead bait anglers.

The baits were bumped frequently, but it’s often being played with by softshell turtles. The turtles have telltale behavioral signs, like constant pecking or swimming off short distances with the bait.


After an hour and a half, we moved to a clearing further downstream, hoping to be rid of the pesky turtles.

Throughout the morning, alligator gar are rising to the surface, rolling around or gulping air before descending into the river’s murkiness. One large individual takes away Guerrero’s and my breath.

“That was a seven-footer for sure,” Carlos said.

After seven years of guiding, he’s still in awe of these fish. The river is teeming with gar, but we can’t seem to convince any to take our bait.

Another hour passed when suddenly one of the lines shot out. We scrambled to the rod and pull line of the spinning reel arbor, hoping the fish didn’t detect any resistance and drop the bait.

Alligator gar must be given time to carry the bait off in their mouth. For four or five minutes, we gave the fish line as it started to cut upstream.

We neared the end of the spool, when Carlos announced that even though the fish hadn’t stopped running with the bait, we had no choice but to set the hook.

I reeled up the slack, felt the weight, then swung the rod tip backward while reeling in an attempt to drive the hook into the fish’s bony mouth.

The line tightened and began running out. I added a couple more hard pulls to ensure a set hook.

The fish kept moving upriver, unabated. Eventually, I stopped the fish and began gaining line, but it came close to the nearshore bank.

I worried that it will find some unseen snag. I worked to guide the fish toward deeper water and suddenly, she jumped out of the water and gnashed her teeth.

Fearful she’d thrown the hook, I was relieved to find her still attached.

The fish pushed out to the main current and the fight continued, with Guerrero and Murga reminding me to keep the rod tip down so I don’t encourage another jump.

Because alligator gar have such incredibly sharp teeth, guides don’t carry landing nets as the fish would simply tear holes through them.

Instead, everyone relies on the most Texas thing you can think of — a rope is used to “lasso” the fish around it’s hard, bony head and haul it to shore.

Guerrero worked the rope around my fishing line as we brought in the gar.

The tensest moments of the entire battle was trying to attach the rope. On three occasions, as Guerrero slid the rope over the rostrum, the tired fish found the energy to dart back into the river, pulling drag each time and making our hearts race.

We spotted the treble hook in the bony corner of the mouth and feared it would pull out. Finally, we got the 5 1/2-foot gar ashore and took a few pictures.

Despite the appearance of hanging precariously, we found the treble hook was well-seated. Because gar can breathe atmospheric air, the fish can be kept out of water far longer than other sport fish.

I took a few pictures of the incredible fish’s head and back, then Guerrero picked up the fish to hand it to me.

While Guerrero picked up the fish, the gar opened its mouth and a fold of Guerrero’s T-shirt fell inside just as the fish closed its mouth. After waiting a second, the fish opened its mouth again and the shirt fell out with several fresh holes.

You wouldn’t want your hand in that girl’s mouth!

After a couple quick pictures, the fish was released to fight another day.

Eventually the humidity broke as well as the overcast skies, and the hot Texas sun came out of hiding to warm and dry the muddy ground and usher in the conclusion of the day’s trip.

Two more bait pickups happened, but each time, the gar dropped the bait. Such is life for alligator gar anglers — you battle turtles, you hope the gar keep the bait long enough to get hooked up, and you get snubbed by many fish.

All for a chance to reel in an incredible fish in an incredible place.

Scott Mackenthun is an outdoors enthusiast who has been writing about hunting and fishing since 2005. He resides in New Prague and may be contacted at scott.mackenthun@gmail.com.

A new discovery could help save this 10-foot-long 'living fossil' fish

The alligator gar is a snaggle-toothed fish longer than a park bench and heavier than a mountain lion. Bony scales covering its body make it look like an armored dinosaur, and for good reason: North America’s second-biggest fish has been thriving since the late Jurassic period, 157 million years ago.


© Photograph by Charles Carpenter/Field Museum Library/Getty Images

Richard Raddatz, of the Field Museum, stands next to an alligator gar in Chicago, Illinois, in 1905.

Jason Bittel - Yesterday 
National Geographic

Many don’t realize that the 10-foot-long alligator gar still exists, but when they do, their first thoughts often turn to fear, says Solomon David, a fish ecologist at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.

But “they’re not like alligators, lions or other animals that can tear off pieces of prey,” says David. “They have to swallow their prey whole, so they’re harmless to humans.”

Alligator gar, which can weigh more than 300 pounds, are like their namesake in one way: They’re apex predators, which means they provide critical ecosystem services to their home habitats—which is mostly the middle and lower Mississippi River watershed in the U.S. The freshwater species keep prey populations in check by hunting smaller fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds, David says. (Learn more about freshwater fish.)

But their role as top hunter has earned alligator gar a bad reputation with anglers and even state wildlife managers, who sometimes tried to exterminate the animals, thinking they were competitors to game fish. In the 1930s, the Texas Game and Fish Commission even built a boat that discharged electric volts into the water. They called it the Electrical Gar Destroyer.


© Photograph by JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK

Alligator gars have a wide range that includes Central America and Cuba.

Combine those direct threats with habitat loss due to dam construction and floodplain draining, and alligator gar are now extremely rare in the upper river systems of America where they were once common. In some states, such as Ohio and Illinois, the species has disappeared completely and is considered locally extinct or extirpated. Alligator gar, found as far south as Central America, are more common in the southern parts of their range, especially in U.S. states such as Texas and Louisiana—which is why they’re listed as of least concern by IUCN.


© Photograph by Kent Ozment/Solomon David

The GarLab team—from left, Audrey Baetz, Solomon David, and Derek Sallmann—measures a large alligator gar at the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi in 2021. All fish are safely released after data collection.

“It’s a matter of scale. What might be of ‘least concern’ globally is definitely not the case on the local scale,” says David.

That’s why David and his colleagues are trying to reverse the fish's decline, for instance by breeding them in captivity and devising ways to learn more about the creatures without harming them. In a January study in the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, David and colleagues showed that instead of cutting into the fish’s flesh to gather samples, taking small clips of fin can provide the same information.

“Just the sheer size of these animals blows you away when you're in their presence,” David says. “These are river giants.”
Fin clips, for the win

To protect gar, scientists first need to know basic information, such as where the behemoths roam and what they’re eating. To do that, they’d normally need to take a nickel-size sample of the fish’s tissue, which contains traces of elements scientists can use to track the fish’s whereabouts.

However, because gar have scales like medieval chain mail, the time-consuming and traumatic practice of extracting that amount of tissue can cause stress on the animal, says Thea Fredrickson, an aquatic biologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority in Texas.

“It can definitely be lethal. There’s no way around it.”

Fortunately, in their new study, Fredrickson and David have just proven that fin clipping is much easier on the gar.

“It also allows us to sample organisms repeatedly,” says David, who notes the fins grow back quickly. “Let’s say we catch the same fish a month or two later, or maybe a year later. We can see how that fish might be changing with its growth.”

“I found the results [of] the paper very promising,” says Zeb Hogan, a research biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, who was not involved in the study.

Some alligator gars live to be 95 years or more, Hogan says, making each individual precious. (Read about Hogan’s quest to find the world’s biggest fishes.)

“We need to understand their biology and their ecology, but you don’t want to sacrifice a fish that’s that old or that grows so slowly,” says Hogan, who is also a National Geographic Explorer.

Though the fin-clipping technique has been shown to work for other fishes, no one had ever tried it with alligator gar. Now that it’s been proven, the scientists have already started using the technique at St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi.

In February, David and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and their gar biologist, Kayla Kimmel, caught numerous gar at the refuge, including a massive specimen longer than David is tall. They tagged the animals and captured 10 individuals to be used in a captive-breeding program at the wildlife service’s Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery. If all goes well, the offspring of these 10 fish will be reintroduced into U.S. areas where gar have disappeared.
Evolutionary wonders

There are seven species of gar found worldwide, and all have changed relatively little over time, which is why they’re known as “living fossils.” (Go underwater into the underlooked world of freshwater animals.)

“They found a body plan that worked, and they’ve stuck with it,” says David, explaining that the fish’s long, narrow shape allows them to lunge quickly at their prey.

Alligator gars can also breathe air, allowing them to survive in hot, low-oxygen environments, including brackish estuaries or even salt water.

Another useful adaptation? Poisonous eggs. Interestingly, alligator gar eggs don’t seem to be lethal to other fishes—only mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and especially arthropods, such as crustaceans. This may mean they evolved the poison specifically to protect their eggs from crabs and crayfish, says David.

“But ‘don’t eat gar caviar’ is the take-home message for people,” he laughs

Save the freshwater giants

Freshwater megafauna, loosely defined as species that weigh over 66 pounds on average, are among the most endangered animals on Earth. Global populations have declined by almost 90 percent since 1970—twice as much as the loss of vertebrate populations on land or in the oceans, according to a 2019 study in Global Change Biology.

Large fish, such as sturgeons, salmons, and giant catfishes, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, have experienced even higher declines, because of overfishing, pollution, and dams. 

(Read more about how dams in Southeast Asia are threatening megafish.)

This is why David is trying to change the perception of these animals any way he can. Sometimes it’s making gar puns on social media, and other times it’s testifying before the Minnesota Legislature in favor of a new bill that would provide gar and other so-called “rough fish” with some protections, rather than allowing them to be killed indiscriminately.

“It's a privilege to work alongside the growing number of conservationists garnering more respect for these charismatic megafish,” David says.

Of course, when he says “garnering,” the emphasis is on the gar.

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Prehistoric Jet Black River Creature With Very Sharp Teeth Found in Florida

BY ROBYN WHITE ON 6/24/22 

A prehistoric jet black river creature with shark-like teeth has been caught in the Choctawhatchee River in Florida.

The melanistic longnose gar was found by the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute while biologists were on a routine long-term monitoring trip.

Photographs posted by the institute show the bizarre creature being held up to the camera. It appears to have black eyes and a long row of black teeth.

"What's black as tar, has armored scales and a mouth full of teeth? A melanistic longnose gar!" the institute said on Facebook." Melanism is an abnormal extent of dark coloration in the skin, scales, fur, or feathers of animals and is characterized by excessive deposits of melanin. It's relatively rare in animals and is not seen often by biologists."

The gar that was caught in Florida. It is completely black, with a long row of teeth.

FWC FISH AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

In comments to the Facebook post, the Institute said the gar was released back into the water after it was caught.

The longnose gar has swum through North American waters for over 100 million years. They are usually olive brown in color, making this one a rare exception.

Gars are known for being large fish. Longnose gar usually reach about 3 feet, however some species such as the alligator gar, can grow up to 8 feet long. They usually live in slow moving water, such as estuaries.

Often, the species are mistaken for logs, as they like to bask on the surface of the water. They usually feed on smaller fish.

Although rare, melanistic animals are occasionally spotted by fishermen.

In May, Texas anglers Justin Jordan and Terrell Maguire were out fishing on a marsh in southeast Texas when they came across a "very rare" melanistic alligator gar.

Jordan estimated it was about 5 feet long—however the species can reach enormous lengths.

Alligator gars are the biggest of the gar fish species. The fish only live in North and Central America and are known for their size.

Two gar species are found in Florida, including the longnose gar and the Florida gar. They are sometimes mistaken for smaller alligator gars, which are not as abundant in the state.

It's legal to catch and harvest gars, however it's strictly prohibited to catch the alligator gar, as it's an endangered species. Any that are caught have to be released back into the water, unless a permit is obtained.

Not much is known about melanistic gars, and how many live in North America's waters, as they are so rarely seen.

It's unclear how big the gar caught by the Institute was, however the biggest longnose ever caught in the state weighed 41 pounds.

A picture shows the gar being held by a biologist. The creature was a rare find.

FWC FISH AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

A discovery that "literally changes the textbook"

MSU's expertise in fish biology, genetics helping researchers rewrite evolutionary history and shape future health studies

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: BEHOLD, THE GAR'S BRAIN. IN THIS MICROSCOPE IMAGE, THE BRAIN'S LEFT HEMISPHERE FLUORESCES GREEN AND THE RIGHT GLOWS MAGENTA. YET, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE IMAGE, NERVES OF BOTH COLORS... view more 

CREDIT: REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM R.J. VIGOUROUX ET AL. SCIENCE 372:EABE7790 (2021)

The network of nerves connecting our eyes to our brains is sophisticated and researchers have now shown that it evolved much earlier than previously thought, thanks to an unexpected source: the gar fish.

Michigan State University's Ingo Braasch has helped an international research team show that this connection scheme was already present in ancient fish at least 450 million years ago. That makes it about 100 million years older than previously believed.

"It's the first time for me that one of our publications literally changes the textbook that I am teaching with," said Braasch, as assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Biology in the College of Natural Science.

This work, published in the journal Science on April 8, also means that this type of eye-brain connection predates animals living on land. The existing theory had been that this connection first evolved in terrestrial creatures and, from there, carried on into humans where scientists believe it helps with our depth perception and 3D vision.

And this work, which was led by researchers at France's Inserm public research organization, does more than reshape our understanding of the past. It also has implications for future health research.

Studying animal models is an invaluable way for researchers to learn about health and disease, but drawing connections to human conditions from these models can be challenging.

Zebrafish are a popular model animal, for example, but their eye-brain wiring is very distinct from a human's. In fact, that helps explain why scientists thought the human connection first evolved in four-limbed terrestrial creatures, or tetrapods.

"Modern fish, they don't have this type of eye-brain connection," Braasch said. "That's one of the reasons that people thought it was a new thing in tetrapods."

Braasch is one of the world's leading experts in a different type of fish known as gar. Gar have evolved more slowly than zebrafish, meaning gar are more similar to the last common ancestor shared by fish and humans. These similarities could make gar a powerful animal model for health studies, which is why Braasch and his team are working to better understand gar biology and genetics.

That, in turn, is why Inserm's researchers sought out Braasch for this study.

"Without his help, this project wouldn't have been possible," said Alain Chédotal, director of research at Inserm and a group leader of the Vision Institute in Paris. "We did not have access to spotted gar, a fish that does not exist in Europe and occupies a key position in the tree of life."

To do the study, Chédotal and his colleague, Filippo Del Bene, used a groundbreaking technique to see the nerves connecting eyes to brains in several different fish species. This included the well-studied zebrafish, but also rarer specimens such as Braasch's gar and Australian lungfish provided by a collaborator at the University of Queensland.

In a zebrafish, each eye has one nerve connecting it to the opposite side of the fish's brain. That is, one nerve connects the left eye to the brain's right hemisphere and another nerve connects its right eye to the left side of its brain.

The other, more "ancient" fish do things differently. They have what's called ipsilateral or bilateral visual projections. Here, each eye has two nerve connections, one going to either side of the brain, which is also what humans have.

Armed with an understanding of genetics and evolution, the team could look back in time to estimate when these bilateral projections first appeared. Looking forward, the team is excited to build on this work to better understand and explore the biology of visual systems.

"What we found in this study was just the tip of the iceberg," Chédotal said. "It was highly motivating to see Ingo's enthusiastic reaction and warm support when we presented him the first results. We can't wait to continue the project with him."

Both Braasch and Chédotal noted how powerful this study was thanks to a robust collaboration that allowed the team to examine so many different animals, which Braasch said is a growing trend in the field.

The study also reminded Braasch of another trend.

"We're finding more and more that many things that we thought evolved relatively late are actually very old," Braasch said, which actually makes him feel a little more connected to nature. "I learn something about myself when looking at these weird fish and understanding how old parts of our own bodies are. I'm excited to tell the story of eye evolution with a new twist this semester in our Comparative Anatomy class."

###

(Note for media: Please include a link to the original paper in online coverage: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe7790)

Angler reels in ‘freaking scary’ fish in Texas marsh, photos show. It’s a rare beast

Mitchell Willetts
Wed, May 18, 2022,

An angler recently reeled in a rare and “freaking scary” fish after casting his hook into a murky Texas marsh, photos show.

The scaly creature’s striking look, jet black from tail to toothy tip, took the fisherman and his guide by surprise, according to a post by Lotus Guide Service.

“Well … (we) found out melanistic gar do exist,” said the May 16 post, sharing photos of the fish whipping and thrashing against the fishing line.

Lotus Guide Service wouldn’t say exactly where the fish was caught, but said it was in a southeast Texas marsh.

Long-established residents of Texas waterways, the prehistoric and prized alligator gar is typically brown or olive in color. But seemingly every inch of the one recently hooked in the “southeast Texas marsh” is dark black, save for the impressive teeth and pale gullet revealed by its open jaws.

Though harmless to humans, alligator gar are fierce enough in appearance and in name to inspire fearful myths about them — and this strange variation is particularly stirring to some, even those familiar with the fish.

“Freaking scary,” one commenter said. “Caught alligator gar growing up in Louisiana … put up a hell of a fight.”

“I like this, looks hella mean,” another said.

“Them thangs look deadly,” another read.

Melanism, a genetic anomaly that causes darker fur, hair, skin or scales, is known to occur across the animal kingdom, though it is exceptionally rare, McClatchy News reported.

How rare is melanism? Rare enough that experts generally lack enough data to offer exact figures. But there are reports of other gars with the condition having been caught or killed in the U.S.

While the black alligator gar has some locals vowing to keep their toes out of the water for the foreseeable future, others were simply impressed.

“Man that’s gorgeous,” a commenter said.

Some were so impressed that, had they been the one to catch the gar, they said they’d have it mounted in their man cave or trophy room for all to see.

The gar is safe from that fate, at least for now.

The angler let the fish go after catching it, Lotus Guide Service said, with the photos as the only trophies taken.

Study calls for end to 'rough fish' pejorative and the paradigm that created it

by Kat Kerlin, UC Davis

This spotted gar in the Louisiana Bayou is an ancient and native fish species. 

Credit: Solomon David / Nicholls State University

From art to religion to land use, much of what is deemed valuable in the United States was shaped centuries ago by the white male perspective. Fish, it turns out, are no exception.

A study published in Fisheries Magazine, a journal of the American Fisheries Society, explores how colonialist attitudes toward native fishes were rooted in elements of racism and sexism. It describes how those attitudes continue to shape fisheries management today, often to the detriment of native fishes.

The study, led by the University of California, Davis, with Nicholls State University and a national team of fisheries researchers, found that nearly all states have policies that encourage overfishing native species. The study maintains that the term "rough fish" is pejorative and degrading to native fish.

"That has bothered me for a long time," said lead author Andrew Rypel, co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Chair in Coldwater Fish Ecology at UC Davis. He and others have been disturbed by images of "glory killings" of native fish that periodically pop up on the internet, as well as the lump categorization of less preferred species as "rough" or "trash" fish.

"When you trace the history of the problem, you quickly realize it's because the field was shaped by white men, excluding other points of view," Rypel said. "Sometimes you have to look at that history honestly to figure out what to do."

The study offers several recommendations for how anglers and fisheries managers can shift to a new paradigm that's more inclusive and beneficial to all fish and people.

A 'rough' start

The term "rough fish" dates to commercial riverboat fishing in the mid-late 1800s. Slow, heavy boats would lighten their loads by "rough-dressing"—removing organs but not fileting—less desirable species and discarding them. Biologists came to use the term to describe an unsubstantiated idea that native fish limit game fish species historically desired by Europeans. That attitude posed a major threat to many native species, which were killed in large numbers.

The alligator gar is the largest species in the gar family and can weigh up to 300 pounds. 

Once considered a “rough fish” and targeted for removal, the native species is experiencing

 renewed interest as a game fish. Credit: Solomon David, Nicholls State University

For instance, the alligator gar, an ancient species that can grow more than 8 feet long and weigh 300 pounds, was particularly persecuted in the past century. Called a "wolf among fishes," poison, dynamite and electrocution were used to greatly reduce its population. But now some fishers spend thousands of dollars for the opportunity to catch and release a giant gar. In 2021, Minnesota changed its statute to describe gar as a "game fish" rather than a "rough fish."

Co-author Solomon David has helped fuel renewed appreciation for gar and its relative, bowfin. He runs the GarLab at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, where he is an assistant professor. He said many native fishes, such as suckers and gars, have long been valued by Indigenous people and people of color.

"European colonists heavily influenced what fishes were more valuable, often the species that looked more similar to what they're used to," David said. "So trout, bass and salmon got their value while many other native species got pushed to the wayside."

Limited view

The study authors conducted a survey of fishing regulations across the United States to compare policies and bag limits on "rough fish" with those of largemouth bass, a ubiquitous sport fish.

"When I was a kid fishing, you might go to the river with a worm and catch all these interesting species," Rypel said. "The guidebook would just say 'rough fish, bag unlimited.' Not much has changed since I was kid."

The study found that no states had bag limits rivaling those for the bass. While black basses were often managed at five fish per day, regulations for most native fishes were extremely liberal. Forty-three states had unlimited bag limits for at least one native species. In the remaining states, bag limits were between 15 and 50 fish a day.

Freshwater ecosystems are threatened by pollution, habitat loss and climate change. Up to half of fish species globally are in some form of decline, and 83 percent of native California fish species are declining. Native fishes help ecosystems in many ways, including nutrient cycling and food chain support for other native species. The authors pointedly call for a "rewrite" in managing them.

Study co-author Solomon David of Nicholls State University holds a bowfin, another underdog of the native fish world. Credit: Solomon David

Recommendations

The study's recommendations for that rewrite include:

• Stop saying "rough fish." They suggest "native fish" as a simple alternative.
• Integrate Indigenous perspectives into fisheries management.
• Revisit species bag limits. Lower bag limits for native species until the science is conducted to confirm they could be higher. The study takes particular note of the fast-growing bowfishing market that has contributed to removing native species.
• Support science on native fishes. Game fish receive 11 times more research and management attention in American Fisheries Society journals than do "rough fish." To learn the true value of native fishes, more research is required.
• Co-manage species that have co-evolved, such as freshwater mussels and fish that host them.
• Correct misinformation and enhance science education through outreach and education for all ages.

"We have a chance to redirect fisheries science and conservation and expand it with respect for biodiversity and diversity," David said. "It's been a long time coming. Change is slow, but we have an opportunity here, and we should take advantage of it."

Additional co-authors include Parsa Saffarinia, Christine Parasek, Peter Moyle, Nann Fangue, Miranda Bell-Tilcock, and David Ayers of UC Davis; Caryn Vaughn of University of Oklahoma; Larry Nesper of University of Wisconsin-Madison; Katherine O'Reilly at University of Notre Dame; and Matthew L. Miller with The Nature Conservancy.

The study was funded by the Peter B. Moyle & California Trout Endowment for Coldwater Fish Conservation and by the California Agricultural Experimental Station of UC Davis.

Trout habitat improvements also benefit nongame native fish

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More information: Andrew L. Rypel et al, Goodbye to "Rough Fish": Paradigm Shift in the Conservation of Native Fishes, Fisheries (2021). DOI: 10.1002/fsh.10660

Journal information: Fisheries 

Provided by UC Davis 

The Gods of the Celts and the Indo-Europeans (revised 2019) BOOK PDF

The Gods of the Celts and the Indo-Europeans, 1994
Garrett Olmsted



Luwian Kuruntas and Celtic Cernunnos: Two Closely Related Manifestations of the Same Indo-European God
https://www.academia.edu/34555543/Luwian_Kuruntas_and_Celtic_Cernunnos_Two_Closely_Related_Manifestations_of_the_Same_Indo-European_God




A Solution To The Mystery Of The Gundestrup Cauldron
https://www.academia.edu/28058446/A_Solution_To_The_Mystery_Of_The_Gundestrup_Cauldron

Vijaya Bhaarati

The Harappan seals contain several linguistic symbols which have not been properly understood so far.Through my works especially- Indus script decipherment breakthrough, PaNameTa-the troy tower weight and measure system of Harappa, The Harappan Symbol Of

Man+ Trident And Its Relation To Kausika Visvamitra And The Kalinga Malla MeTas( Tower Weights), The Harappan Unicorn And The Kalinga Malla MeTas(Tower Weights) , The Harappan Symbol Of Intersecting Circles And Its Relation To Kausika Visvamitra And The Kalinga Malla MeTas( Tower weights), The Harappan Contest Motif Of Nude Man With Six Locks Of Hair Fighting Two Tigers And Its Relation To The Kalinga Malla MeTas( Tower Weights), The Harappan symbols of Roots, Nuts And Cocks And Their Relation To Kausika Visvamitra And The Kalinga Malla MeTas( Tower weights), Identification Of KaNva In The Indus Script, Identification Of Troy In The Indus script,Identification Of Barley And Mustard In The Indus Script, Krishna’s Mathura And Dvaraka In The Indus Script, The Pinna In The Indus Script, The Identity Of Vedic Sarasvati And The Location Of Krishna’s Dvaraka, Identification Of Vedic Bharadvaja In The Indus Script, Krishna’s Dvaraka In The Indus Script, One Symbol Of Indus Script Can Tell A Lot About The Indus Valley Civilisation, The Identity Of Kasyapa In The Indus Valley And Sumeria, Kusa -The Son Of Rama-In Mesopotamia(Sumer),Indus -Sumer Trade, A Few “Copper” Names In The Indus Script, Janaka-King Of Mithila-In The Indus Script,The Vedic Asvins, Yama And Kartikeya In The Indus Script, The Goddess Sarasvati And The Origin Of Brahmi And Kharoshthi, The Origin Of The Roman Aes Grave From The Indus Valley Money -

I have shown that several seals contain vedic metrological terms,names of vedic ornaments,names of people and places etc.In this work I am carrying forward the study of vedic metrology in the Indus seals with further illustrative examples.My perception is that only a comprehensive study of ancient vedic metrology can decipher the script symbols satisfactorily. A significant find herein is the existence of the Kalinga malla mana system during Harappan times challenging the common perception of its origin from the later Kalinga kingdom(Orissa).The unicorn is identified as the pala/nishka.Intersecting circles, fish , crab,bud,tower signs also have the same indications.The six locks of hair indicate the paNameTa weight of six barley grains.Roots and nuts indicate viira bhadra/ Drupada/ pala.We have located Lord Krishna’s Mathura and Dvaraka in the Indus valley scripts.

We have confirmed Mohenjodaro as the first Dvaraka

on the basis of the inscription on the copperplate B7C2 from there and textual evidences from the Rgveda, Mahabharata etc.We have located PadmakuuTa,one of the

palaces of Krishna there.Also we have identified the Sindhu(Indus) as the Vedic Sarasvati river.We have gone through the symbols identifying the Bharadvajas,the clan of composers of the earliest vedic texts.In Krishna’s Dvaraka we gathered more details from the script on Lord Krishna’s Dvaraka and Sindhu/Sarasvati. We have looked into the

indications of the Harappan jar symbol with three forks on each edge.We have located the Kasyapas in Hastinapura

trading with Sumeria.We have decoded the Mari Standard,went deeper into the meanings of several Sumerian images and confirmed Meluhha as Vedic Harappa/Indus valley. We have located Janaka,the king of Mithila,father-in-law of Rama, in the Indus script.We have identified the names of copper in the Indus script and located the Asvins,Yama and Skanda in the Indus script.In A Model For Indus Script Decipherment

we have identified the deity in the seal M-1181 and built a model for complete decipherment of the Indus script.

We have seen how Brahmi and Kharoshthi evolved from the Indus Script and how the Indus script was in use along with Brahmi/Kharoshthi even into the first centuries CE.We have seen how the coins of the ancient world,including the Roman coins evolved from the Indus valley money.

We have looked for and located a Rosetta Stone for the Indus script, in the varaha/gadyanaka coin form.

In this article we are looking into the relation of the Druids to the Indus valley civilisation and the role of the Gundestrup cauldron

in the evolution of Christianity.


Indus Script hieroglyphs on artifacts which signify Karnonov (Cernunnos), Gundestrup cauldron, Celtic tomb of Lavau (500 BCE)

Srini Kalyanaraman

This monograph posits that Indus Script hieroglyphs are identifiable on the following artifacts made by silversmiths/boatmen in the Ancient Near East from ca. 500 BCE:

1. artifacts which signify Karnanov (Cernunnos)

2. Gundestrup Cauldron,

3. artifacts of Celtic tomb of Lavau (500 BCE).

Such hieroglyhs as hypertexts, are decipered in Indus Script Cipher tradition of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization. cf. Karnanov as कारणी 'supercargo' kāraṇīka
'helmsman'on Pilier des nautes (Pillar of Boatmen).

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/08/greek-karnonov-to-carnonos-cognate.html ΚΑΡΝΟΝΟΥ (Greek) karnonov to CARNONOS cognate कारणी 'supercargo' kāraṇīka 'helmsman'Indus Script

1.An artifact which signifies karnanov

I suggest that the expression karnanov (mentioned with variant spelling on the Pillar of Boatmen, as cernunnos) is cognate with कारणी 'supercargo' kāraṇīka

'helmsman'. identified on Indus Script Corpora.

Model reconstructing the Pillar of the Boatmen in the Musée de Cluny

Relief of Cernunnos (the only one that uses this name) on the column dedicated by the boatmen of Paris to Emperor Tiberius andJupiter. Two torcs hang from his antlers. (Musée du Moyen-Âge at Cluny, Paris)

karnanov signified on the Pillar of Boatmen. Indus Script hieroglyphs (hypertext): kāṇḍa 'stalk' (as horns) rebus: kāṇḍa 'implement'.

The rings hung on the horns of the seated person: karã̄ n. pl. 'wristlets, bangles' rebus: khār 'blacksmith'

The person is seated in penance (tApasa vis'esha): kamaDha 'penance' rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coiner, coinage'.

Since the seated person is recognized in Celtic/Gaul traditions and is recognized on the Pillar of Boatmen, the the expression karnanov used in an inscription in Greek letters is cognate with कारणी kāraṇī 'supercargo', kāraṇīka 'helmsman'.

In the context of glyptics on Gundestrup Cauldron, Art historian Timothy Taylor noted a shared pictorial and technical tradition that stretched from India to Thrace where the cauldron was made and thence to Denmark. He also conjectured that members of an Indian itinerant artisan class, not unlike the later Gypsies in Europe who also originate in India, must have been the creators of the Gundestrup Cauldron. (Taylor, T. 1992. "The Gundestrup cauldron.” Scientific American 266(March): 84-89.) See: Dr. Tim Taylor (University of Bradford). Univ. of Birmingham, Archaeology and World Religions, Session held on 19 December 1998]. http://www.bham.ac.uk/TAG98/pages/abs

Timothy Taylor and AK Bergquist had noted "that the Celtic tribe known as the Scordisci commissioned the cauldron from native Thracian silversmiths. According to classical historians, the Cimbri, a Teutonic tribe, went south from the lower Elbe region and attacked the Scordisci in 118 BC. After withstanding several defeats at the hands of the Romans, the Cimbri retreated north with the cauldron to settle in Himmerland, where the vessel was found." (Bergquist, A K & Taylor, T F (1987), “The origin of the Gundestrup cauldron”, Antiquity 61: 10-24.)

If the silversmiths of Thrace who used Indus Script hieroglyphs on the Gundestrup Cauldron had been an itinerant class of metalworkers, it is reasonable to hypothesise that the ancestors of these silversmiths were originally from Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization, and continued the tradition of Indus Script cipher in documenting in hypertext, the Gundestrup cauldron as a metalwork catalogue. This hypothesis is consistent with the decipherment of the entire Indus Script Corpora as a data archive of metalwork catalogues.

I suggest that the 'horns' on Karnonov (Cernunnos) signified on the Pillar of Boatmen are NOT antler's horns but stalks or trunks of a plant.

The word काण्ड is an Indus Script hieroglyph, a stalk. The word काण्ड in metalwork is a metal implement; The word कण्ड is a sword. कांडें (p. 151) [ kāṇḍēṃ ] n (कांड S) A joint or knot, an articulation. 2 The portion included between two knots, an internodation. 3 A piece (as of sugarcane or bamboo) comprising three or four knots. 4 The whole stem or trunk of a plant, or esp. up to the shooting of the branches. 5 fig. A measure of length,--a pole, stick, straw, thread, any thing (of definite or indefinite length) taken to measure with: also the measure so taken. v घे. Hence A section or defined portion (of a long wall, of an elevated platform sometimes appended to a draw-well, of a raised पाट or plantation-watercourse, of any long line of masonry). 6 A creeping plant old, dry, and stiff. 7 Stalks and heads of corn once trodden or thrashed (as thrown or reserved for a second treading or thrashing). 8 A young plant (of नाचणी, वरी &c.) fit to be transplanted. 2 A disease attacking the finger-joints. अडचा कांड्यावर येणें (Because two large and one small कांडीं or joints are the amount of a stalk of wheat.) To be ready to throw out the ear (to shoot the hose)--wheat.

Identified hieroglyphs on Gundestrup Cauldron

In 2002 previously unknown images were revealed on the Gundestrup Cauldron. These images are "very faintly scratched on the back of the plates. The images discovered include a horn blower and a cat-like animal, perhaps a lion..."http://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-early-iron-age/the-gundestrup-cauldron/hidden-images/


One image is that of a tiger, an Indus Script hieroglyph which is shown below. Hieroglyph: kola 'tiger' rebus: kol 'working in iron'.kolhe 'smelter' kolle 'blacksmith'.

"A closer examination of the Gundestrup Cauldron in 2002 revealed previously unknown images, very faintly scratched on the back of the plates. The images discovered include a horn blower and a cat-like animal, perhaps a lioness. The figures are a few centimetres tall. They were not meant to be seen. The pictures, which were not known about until recently, may be various suggestions of how the cauldron’s makers thought the cauldron should be decorated." http://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-early-iron-age/the-gundestrup-cauldron/hidden-images/

Other Indus Script hieroglyphs on the Gundestrup Cauldron
kamaDha 'penance' (seated person) rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coiner, coinage'.
karibha 'trunk of elephant' ibha 'elephant' rebus: karba 'iron' ib 'iron'
khaNDa 'rhinoceros' rebus: kaNDa 'implement'
ranku 'antelope' rebus: ranku 'tin'
karã̄ n. pl. 'wristlets, bangles' rebus: khār 'blacksmith'
kulyA 'hood of serpent' rebus: kol 'working in iron'
miṇḍāl 'markhor' (Tōrwālī) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Mu.Ho.) med 'copper' (Slavic languages)
eraka 'upraised hand' rebus: eraka 'moltencast, copper'
eruvai 'eagle, kite' rebus: eruvai 'copper'
arka 'sun' rebus: eraka, arka 'copper, gold'
kolmo 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'
arA 'spokes' rebus: Ara 'brass' eraka 'nave of wheel' rebus: eraka 'moltencast, copper'
ayo, aya 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal'
kambha 'wing' rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coiner, coinage'
dolutsu 'tumble' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'
tutārī a wind instrument, a sort of horn (Marathi) (DEDR 3316)Rebus: తుత్తము [ tuttamu ] or తుత్తరము tuttamu. [Tel.] n. sulphate of zinc.

Hieroglyph: d.han:ga = tall, long shanked; maran: d.han:gi aimai kanae = she is a big tall woman (Santali) Rebus: d.han:gar ‘blacksmith’ (WPah.): d.a_n:ro = a term of contempt for a blacksmith (N.)(CDIAL 5524) t.ha_kur = blacksmith (Mth.); t.ha_kar = landholder (P.); t.hakkura – Rajput, chief man of a village (Pkt.); t.hakuri = a clan of Chetris (N.); t.ha_kura – term of address to a Brahman, god, idol (Or.)(CDIAL 5488). dha~_gar., dha_~gar = a non-Aryan tribe in the Vindhyas, digger of wells and tanks (H.); dha_n:gar = young servant, herdsman, name of a Santal tribe (Or.); dhan:gar = herdsman (H.)(CDIAL 5524).
karA 'crocodile' rebus: khAr 'blacksmith'
kODe, kOdiya 'young bull' rebus: koTiya 'dhow, seafaring vessel'
kola 'tiger, jackal' rebus: kol 'working in iron'

Hieroglyph: धातु [p= 513,3] m. layer , stratum Ka1tyS3r. Kaus3. constituent part , ingredient (esp. [ and in RV. only] ifc. , where often = " fold " e.g. त्रि-ध्/आतु , threefold &c ; cf.त्रिविष्टि- , सप्त- , सु-) RV. TS. S3Br. &c (Monier-Williams) dhāˊtu *strand of rope ʼ (cf. tridhāˊtu -- ʻ threefold ʼ RV., ayugdhātu -- ʻ having an uneven number of strands ʼ KātyŚr.).; S. dhāī f. ʻ wisp of fibres added from time to time to a rope that is being twisted ʼ, L. dhāī˜ f.(CDIAL 6773) tántu m. ʻ thread, warp ʼ RV. [√tan] Pa. tantu -- m. ʻ thread, cord ʼ, Pk. taṁtu -- m.; Kho. (Lor.) ton ʻ warp ʼ < *tand (whence tandeni ʻ thread between wings of spinning wheel ʼ); S. tandu f. ʻ gold or silver thread ʼ; L. tand (pl. °dũ) f. ʻ yarn, thread being spun, string of the tongue ʼ; P. tand m. ʻ thread ʼ, tanduā, °dūā m. ʻ string of the tongue, frenum of glans penis ʼ; A. tã̄t ʻ warp in the loom, cloth being woven ʼ; B. tã̄t ʻ cord ʼ; M. tã̄tū m. ʻ thread ʼ; Si. tatu, °ta ʻ string of a lute ʼ; -- with -- o, -- ā to retain orig. gender: S. tando m. ʻ cord, twine, strand of rope ʼ; N. tã̄do ʻ bowstring ʼ; H. tã̄tā m. ʻ series, line ʼ; G. tã̄tɔ m. ʻ thread ʼ; -- OG. tāṁtaṇaü m. ʻ thread ʼ < *tāṁtaḍaü, G.tã̄tṇɔ m.(CDIAL 5661)

Indus Script hieroglyphs on artifacts which signify Karnonov (Cernunnos), Gundestrup cauldron, Celtic tombof Lavau (500 BCE)

This monograph posits that Indus Script hieroglyphs are identifiable on the following artifacts made by silversmiths/boatmen in the Ancient Near East from ca. 500 BCE:1. artifacts which signify Karnanov (Cernunnos)2. Gundestrup Cauldron,3. artifacts of Celtic tomb of Lavau (500 BCE

Such hieroglyhs as hypertexts, are decipered in Indus Script Cipher tradition of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization. cf. Karnanov asकाणी 'supercargo' kāraṇī k a'helmsman'on Pilier des nautes (Pillar of Boatmen).http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/08/greek-karnonov-to-carnonos- cognate.html

Bowfin genome reveals old dogfish can teach researchers new tricks

International team of researchers sequence genome of the enigmatic bowfin fish

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF ORGANISMIC AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

 

IMAGE: FRESHLY DEPOSITED BOWFIN EGGS ATTACHED TO NEST MATERIAL. MALE BOWFIN BUILD NESTS IN WHICH FEMALES LAY EGGS. AFTER THE MALE FERTILIZES THE EGGS, IT WILL REMAIN WITH THE NEST TO GUARD THE YOUNG view more 

CREDIT: M. BRENT HAWKINS

The fish species Amia calva goes by many names including bowfin, freshwater dogfish, grinnel, and mud pike. No matter what you call it, this species is an evolutionary enigma because it embodies a unique combination of ancestral and advanced fish features.

In a paper published August 30 in Nature Genetics an international and collaborative team of researchers, headed by Ingo Braasch and Andrew Thompson of Michigan State University, have begun to unravel the enigma by sequencing the genome of the bowfin fish. Their collaborative analysis yielded unexpected insights into diverse aspects of the biology of this mysterious, ancient lineage.

The bowfin is a bony fish endemic to eastern North America and is the sole surviving member of a once large lineage of many species that are now known only from fossils. Scientists have long been fascinated with the bowfin because it bears a combination of ancestral features, such as lung-like air breathing and a robust fin skeleton, and derived features like simplified scales and a reduced tail. The bowfin also occupies a key position in the fish family tree, where it sits between the teleosts, a large and diverse group that arose recently, and more ancient branches that include sturgeons, paddlefish, and bichirs.

Due to this special position in the fish family tree, the bowfin can help scientists understand how aspects of modern fishes evolved from their ancient antecedents. By examining the bowfin genome, scientists can investigate the genetic basis of the unique set of old and new features of the bowfin. They can also use this genomic information as a framework to better understand the origin of the teleosts, which have duplicated and extensively modified their genomes since separating from the bowfin lineage and emerging as the dominant lineage in most aquatic habitats.

As a doctoral candidate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, study co-author M. Brent Hawkins (PhD ’20) examined the evolution and development of the bowfin pectoral fin. Hawkins’ doctoral thesis, conducted with Professor Matthew P. Harris, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, and Professor James Hanken, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard university, contributed some of the study’s most surprising findings.

Hawkins focused on the pectoral fin of the bowfin because of its ancestral configuration of the skeleton. The bowfin retains the metapterygium, which is a portion of the fin skeleton that is homologous to the limb bones of tetrapods. Model organisms such as the widely used zebrafish and medaka have lost the metapterygium, which makes comparisons between the fin and the limb difficult. By studying the bowfin fin, scientists can use knowledge of bowfin development as a steppingstone to bridge teleost fin development to tetrapod limb development and help explain the evolution of the fin-to-limb transition.

CAPTION

Schematics show the arrangement of bones in fins and limbs. Elements that are derived from the ancestral metapterygium are shown in magenta. The tetrapod limb and a portion of the bowfin fin arose from the metapterygium, while teleosts have lost the metapterygial components

CREDIT

M. Brent Hawkins

With co-authors Emily Funk and Amy McCune, both at Cornell University, Hawkins collected young bowfin embryos from nests in the wild in upstate New York. Hawkins raised the embryos, collecting pectoral fin samples as they developed. He extracted mRNA from the samples and performed Transcriptome Sequencing with the help of the Harvard University Bauer Core to determine which genes are turned on in the developing fin by parsing the transcriptome data using the genomic reference sequence. Once identified, he used in situ hybridization to visualize where these genes are activated during fin outgrowth. Initially, Hawkins expected the bowfin gene data to look very similar to other fins and limbs. “As a field, we have characterized many of the genes involved in appendage patterning. We have a good idea of what the essential fin and limb genes are and where they should be turned on,” said Hawkins. However, when he analyzed the fin data he was shocked by the results.

While the bowfin pectoral fins did express many of the expected appendage growth genes, some of the most critical of these genes were in fact entirely absent. One such gene called fibroblast growth factor 8 (Fgf8) is turned on at the far tip of developing fins and limbs and is required for the outgrowth of these appendages. When Fgf8 is lost appendage outgrowth is impaired, and if extra Fgf8 is applied to an embryo, it can cause a new limb to form. “Every other fin and limb we know of expresses Fgf8 during development,” Hawkins said. “Discovering that bowfin fins don’t express Fgf8 is like finding a car that runs without a gas pedal. That the bowfin has accomplished this rewiring indicates unexpected flexibility in the fin development program. With the genome in hand, we can now unlock how this flexibility evolved.”

While some genes like Fgf8 were mysteriously absent from the bowfin fin, other genes were unexpectedly activated in the fins. The HoxD14 gene is expressed in the fins of fishes from the deeper branches of the fish family tree, such as paddlefish, but this gene was lost in more recent branches including the teleosts. When the authors found this gene in the bowfin genome data, they thought it must not be expressed because the DNA sequence did not encode a functional protein. Surprisingly, Hawkins and colleagues found that bowfin fins made HoxD14 gene transcripts at high levels, even though it did not code for a protein. “The fact that the HoxD14 gene can no longer make a protein, but it still transcribed into mRNA at such high levels suggests that there might be another function that we do not yet understand. We might be seeing a new level of Hox gene regulation at play in the bowfin,” said Hawkins.

CAPTION

A recently hatched bowfin larva facing to the left as seen through a microscope.

CREDIT

M. Brent Hawkins

Taken together the Fgf8 and HoxD14 results indicate that genetic programs, even those that guide the formation of important structures such as fins and limbs, are not as invariable as previously thought. “By studying more species, we learn which rules are hard and fast and which ones evolution can tinker with. Our study shows the importance of sampling a broader swath of natural diversity. We might just find important exceptions to established rules,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins also suggests that the results of the bowfin study serve as a warning against treating members of deeper branches of the tree of life as stand-ins for actual ancestors. “Some people might describe species like the bowfin as a ‘living fossil’ that reliably represents the ancestral condition of a lineage. In reality, these deeper branches have been evolving past that ancestor for just as long as the more recent branches, doing their own thing and changing in their own ways. In evolution, old dogs do learn new tricks.”

Hawkins is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Matthew P. Harris at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital.

####

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JOURNAL

Nature Genetics

DOI

DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-00914-y 

ARTICLE TITLE

The bowfin genome illuminates the developmental evolution of ray-finned fishes

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-Aug-2021

Learning from a ‘living fossil’

A Spartan-led team has probed the genetics of bowfin fish like never before to reveal insights about human health and evolutionary history

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

As we live and breathe, ancient-looking fish known as bowfin are guarding genetic secrets that that can help unravel humanity’s evolutionary history and better understand its health.

Michigan State researchers Ingo Braasch and Andrew Thompson are now decoding some of those secrets. Leading a project that included more than two dozen researchers spanning three continents, the Spartans have assembled the most complete picture of the bowfin genome to date.

“For the first time, we have what’s called a chromosome-level genome assembly for the bowfin,” said Braasch, an assistant professor of integrative biology in the College of Natural Science. “If you think of the genome like a book, what we had in the past was like having all the pages ripped out in pieces. Now, we’ve put them back in the book.”

“And in order,” added Thompson, a postdoctoral researcher in Braasch’s lab and the first author of the new research report, published Aug. 30 in the journal Nature Genetics.

This is really important information for a few reasons, the duo said, and it starts with the bowfin being what Charles Darwin referred to as a “living fossil.” The bowfin, or dogfish, looks like an ancient fish.

This doesn’t mean that the bowfin hasn’t evolved since ancient times, but it has evolved more slowly than most fishes. This means that the bowfin has more in common with the last ancestor shared by fish and humans, hundreds of millions of years ago, than, say, today’s zebrafish.

Zebrafish — which are modern, so-called teleost fishes — are a notable example because they’re widely used by scientists as a model to test and develop theories about human health. Having more genetic information about the bowfin helps make the zebrafish a better model.

“A lot of research on human health and disease is done on model organisms, like mice and zebrafish,” Thompson said. “But once you identify important genes and the elements that regulate those genes in zebrafish, it can be hard to find their equivalents in humans. It’s easier to go from zebrafish to bowfin to human.”

For example, one particularly interesting gene is one that’s used in developing the bowfin’s gas bladder, an organ the fish uses to breathe and store air. Scientists believe that the last common ancestor shared by fish and humans had air-filled organs like these that were evolutionary predecessors to human lungs.

In their new study, the Spartan researchers could see that a certain genetic process in the bowfin’s gas bladder development bore striking similarities to what’s known about human lung development. A similar process is also present in the modern teleost fishes, but it’s been obscured by eons of evolution.

“When you looked for the human genetic elements of this organ development in zebrafish, you couldn’t find it because teleost fishes have higher rates of evolution,” Thompson said. “It’s there in modern fishes, but it’s hidden from view until you see it in bowfin and gar.”

The gar is another air-breathing fish with “living fossil” status that’s studied by Braasch and his team. With both the gar and bowfin genomes, the team was able to show where these genetic elements linked to gas bladder and lung formation were hiding out in the modern teleost fishes. The ancient fish enable researchers to build a better bridge between the established modern fish model organisms and human biology.

“You don’t want to base that bridge on one species,” said Braasch, who added this finding also strengthens the implications for evolutionary history. “This is another piece of the puzzle that suggests the common ancestor of fish and humans had an air-filled organ and used it for breathing at the water surface, quite similar to what you see in bowfin and gar.”

Although these findings have insights that are pertinent to all of humanity, Spartans might feel a special affinity for the bowfin. For starters, male fish turn their fins and throats a bright shade of green during spawning season. Also, famed biologist William Ballard of Dartmouth College studied bowfin development from eggs to larval fish at Michigan State’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station during the 1980s. This was what he called his “Odyssey of Strange Fish,” and Braasch’s team now uses his work to guide their genomic analyses of bowfin development.

Bowfins are native to Michigan. They could be in the Red Cedar River on MSU’s campus now, according to Thompson, but they also can be quite elusive and, sometimes, very aggressive. This made collaborations essential for securing specimens. With colleagues at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, the team caught bowfins for genome sequencing. Amy McCune, a collaborator and professor at Cornell University, knew where to find bowfin eggs in upstate New York and had a graduate student gifted at securing these unique samples for investigating bowfin development.

The Spartans also had connections at other universities and institutions with experts in bowfin biology, chromosome evolution and more. All told, the team included researchers from six states as well as France, Japan and Switzerland. Back in East Lansing, graduate students Mauricio Losilla and Olivia Fitch, research technologist Brett Racicot, and Kevin Childs, director of the MSU Genomics Core facility, also contributed to the study, which comes with an interesting twist at the end.

Almost all vertebrate creatures that grow paired limbs or fins share a common gene.

“Humans use it, mice use it. All fishes that have been studied so far use it,” Braasch said. “The naïve expectation would be that bowfin do, too.”

But that’s not what the team found. The bowfin, the “living fossil,” has evolved a different way of growing its paired fins.

“For whatever reason, it changed its genetic programming. Even ‘living fossils’ keep evolving. They’re not frozen in time,” Braasch said. “It’s sort of a cautionary tale that we shouldn’t take these things for granted. You have to look trait by trait, gene by gene and across many different species to paint the complete picture.”

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JOURNAL

Nature Genetics

DOI

10.1038/s41588-021-00914-y 

ARTICLE TITLE

The bowfin genome illuminates the developmental evolution of ray-finned fishes

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-Aug-2021