---
title: "Alligator Gar"
description: "Atractosteus spatula — Pesci. The alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) is a euryhaline ray-finned fish in the clade Ginglymodi of the infraclass Holostei , being most closely related to the bowfins."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/alligator-gar
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Alligator Gar

> Atractosteus spatula — Pesci. The alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) is a euryhaline ray-finned fish in the clade Ginglymodi of the infraclass Holostei , being most closely related to the bowfins.

- Scientific name: *Atractosteus spatula*
- Category: `fish` (Pesci)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Laghi e fiumi)
- iNaturalist observations: 1409
- Wikidata: [Q522735](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q522735)
- iNaturalist taxon: [54542](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54542)

## Names

- en: Alligator Gar
- de: Alligatorhecht
- es: Catán común
- fr: Garpique alligator
- pl: Niszczuka krokodyla

## Countries with the most observations

US (714), MX (14), TH (7), TW (7), HK (4), MY (4), IN (3)

## Summary

The alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) is a euryhaline ray-finned fish in the clade Ginglymodi of the infraclass Holostei , being most closely related to the bowfins. It is the largest species in the gar family (Lepisosteidae), and is among the largest freshwater fishes in North America. The fossil record traces its group's existence back to the Early Cretaceous over 100 million years ago. Gars are often referred to as "primitive fishes" or "living fossils", because they have retained some morphological characteristics of their early ancestors, such as a spiral valve intestine, which is also common to the digestive…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_gar

## Photo

![Alligator Gar](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/alligator-gar/medium.jpg)

Photo: Nick Loveland · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14515394

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/alligator-gar?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).