Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
1790
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Autobiography, Selected Papers, 5:154
Additional Source Text:
"[Charles Willson Peale] preserves a garfish amongst other articles that is found on the shores of the Chesapeak. The scales of this fish is so hard, that in this neighbourhood, the skin is often nailed on the plow board to keep it from wearing by the friction of a gravelly soil and it is an excellent substitute for sheet Iron in this important article of husbandry."
Notes:
The longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus) is found in the Chespeake. Gars have platelike scales of inorganic salt similar to the scales of prehistoric fish.
Current Common Name:
Longnose gar
Current Scientific Name
Lepisosteus osseus
