Gar
Lepisosteidae
Not Kosher
Description
Gar flesh is edible, but the eggs are highly toxic.
Gar live in fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine waters of eastern North America, Central America, and Cuba. That includes shallow brackish water off Texas and Louisiana, eastern Mexico, and the Great Lakes region.
Also known as
- Alligator gar
- Longnose gar
- Spotted gar
- Gar pike
- Garfish
- Garpike
Gar in foreign languages
| Scientific | Lepisosteidae |
| Hebrew | דגי תנין |
| Arabic | سمك الرمح |
| Spanish | Pejelagarto |
| Portuguese | Gar |
| French | Lépisostéidés |
| German | Knochenhechte |
| Russian | Панцирниковые |
| Chinese | 雀鱔科 |
| Japanese | ガー目 |
| Korean | 레피소스테우스과 |
| Vietnamese | cá láng |
| Thai | ปลาการ์ |
Warnings & Kosher Issues
- Gar are armored with hard, interlocking ganoid scales that can't be removed without tearing the skin, so they don't meet the kosher standard and are not kosher. This is the same issue as sturgeon and paddlefish.
- Gar eggs carry a protein toxin that's highly poisonous to humans, even cooked.
- The name gar also refers to unrelated needlefish, so don't confuse the two.