SALUDA, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) – A group fishing in South Carolina was quite surprised when they recently reeled a rare black gar.
The Brandt and Williams families were out on the water Sunday for a day of fishing on the sandbars just north of the town of Saluda.
Usually, Henry Alex Brandt said he only catches catfish in this area.
“I’ve never really caught anything decent,” he said.
But not on Sunday.
When a fishing rod on one of the Brandt boats started bouncing, the family noticed a black log-like figure in the water.
Henry Alex Brandt, his son Henry, his brother David Brandt, and Chandlor Williams, all jumped in to reel it in.
What they caught was a longnose gar, completely black and about two and half to three feet long.
According to information from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, longnose gar are native to South Carolina.
What makes this one black, however, is the melanin.
According to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, “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.”
Jason Bettinger, a fisheries biologist for DNR, said the lower Broad River, the upper Congaree River and the lower Saluda River “have a high frequency of melanism in longnose gar relative to other areas I’ve worked.”
“I would say for that area, we are looking at percentages greater than 1%,” he said. “If you float the lower Broad on a clearwater day, and are looking, you will likely see a melanistic gar.”
Gars also have unique teeth, which make them a bit frightening to see.
The families said they released the gar after taking photos of it.
“We caught her, we admired her, and we let her go. She swam on her way,” said Samantha Brandt, Henry Alex Brandt’s wife.
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