The tropical gar (''Atractosteus tropicus'') is a species of fish from Central America, where it is found in the Pacific and Atlantic drainages from southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. In Central America it is known as ''gaspar'' and in Mexico it is known as ''pejelagarto'', a contraction of the words "pez" (fish) and "lagarto" (alligator). This gar inhabits a wide range of fresh and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water habitats such as rivers,

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

s, lakes and pools, but avoids areas with a strong current. It reaches lengths of up to (although typically less than half that length) and a weight up to . The tropical gar looks very similar to the

longnose gar The longnose gar (''Lepisosteus osseus''), also known as longnose garpike or billy gar, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. The genus may have been present in North America for about 100 million years. References are made to gar ...

in color and markings, but can be distinguished by its shorter, broader snout. The tropical gar's diet consists mainly of

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

s and other fish. While gar are not widely eaten, there is a traditional

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

dish of the same name that uses chili, limes, and salt to cook the animal.

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* {{Taxonbar, from=Q302344 Lepisosteidae Mexican cuisine Freshwater fish of Mexico Freshwater fish of Nicaragua Fish of Lake Nicaragua Fish described in 1863 Taxa named by Theodore Gill