Bowfishing Rare Black "Melanistic" Gar
Gar are some of the oldest creatures roaming the planet since long before humans came around. They're pretty hardy to be able to last that long and quite frankly they still do a good job of ruling freshwater and saltwater streams. They eat just about any fish, birds and even some mammals.
A single female will typically lay roughly 30,000 eggs per year and the eggs hatch within 3-9 days. What's crazy is - a gar may hatch their eggs in another fish nest and the other fish will take care of the newborns as if they are their own...even though the gar will eat them when mature.
There are lots of gar in the world, but you can consider yourself lucky if you get to see solid black gar. The rare coloration is described as a "melanistic" condition where the gar have excess amounts of the pigment melanin. The black pigment melanin is formed in melanoblast cells though the oxidation of certain amino acids. 
We're fortunate that our followers have sent us some really awesome photos from their personal experiences where they've seen melanistic gar.
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I’ve caught 3 black garfish n have pictures of them, I got all 3 stuffed, have 1 here at home and will be traveling to pick up the other two
I’ve caught 3 black gars n have pictures of them, got all 3 stuffed and mounted. I have 1 here at home and will be traveling to pick up the other two.