Alligator mississippiensis, American alligator : fisheries, aquaculture

Alligator mississippiensis   (Daudin, 1801)

American alligator
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Classification / Names Populärnamn | synonymer | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Reptilia | Crocodilia | Alligatoridae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / djupintervall / distribution range Ekologi

; sötvatten; brackvatten.  Subtropical; 36°N - 25°N, 106°W - 75°W

Distribution Länder | FAO områden | Ekosystem | Förekomster | Utplanteringar

Western Central Atlantic: Southeast USA (Alabama, Arkansas, North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Könsmognad: Lm 1.8  range ? - ? cm Max length : 427 cm TL hane/ej könsbestämd; (Ref. 80293); 309.9 cm TL (female); publicerad maxvikt: 473.10 g (Ref. 80293); publicerad maxvikt: 473.10 g

Short description Morfologi

Broad snout with bony nasal bridge; edge of upper jaw overlaps with teeth of lower jaw when mouth closed. Juveniles are miniature adults with bright yellow cross-bands on black skin; yellow bands turn to olive brown. Skin around jaws, neck and belly are creamy white. Pale ventral surface, scales near tail black. Bony plates on scales of belly. Olive green eyes (Ref. 77040). Sexual dimorphism visible only on juveniles and adults greater than 0.6 m.

Biologi     Ordlista (t.ex. epibenthic)

Can tolerate saline waters for short periods of time. Construct burrows used for shelter and hibernation at low temperatures. Construct alligator holes for refuge during dry periods. May cross land when alligator holes dry out to find another body of water. Opportunistic feeders. Juveniles feed on small invertebrates (insects, frogs) and small fish. Dietary range increases as size increases and larger adults consume all aquatic and terrestrial prey (fish, turtles, small mammals, birds, reptiles including small alligators). May also scavenge. Feeding activity related to temperature, decreasing at temperatures below 20 to 23°C. Ectothermic. Home range size of adult males is 2000 acres (Ref. 80292).

Life cycle and mating behavior Könsmognad | Reproduktion | Lek | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Courtship rituals involve rapid head-slapping on water surface, body postures reinforced with odor from musk glands. Courtship synchronizes spermatogenesis and ovulation. Female creates the nest, often the same site each year and near an 'alligator hole' from freshly torn up vegetation and mud (usually at the start of summer) above the water level. Female lays 20-50 eggs (average of 40-45), remains near the nest until eggs hatch, sometimes breaking the egg to help hatchlings out. She then takes 8-10 hatchlings in her mouth and carries them to the water encouraging them to swim out. Juveniles form pods which often stay close to the mother for a period of up to 2 years.

Main reference referenser | Koordinator | Medarbetare

Britton, A. 2002. (Ref. 77040)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic

Human uses

Fiskeri: kommersiell; Vattenbruk: kommersiell
FAO - fiskeri: landings | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Verktyg

E-book | Fälthandbok

Ytterligare information

Trophic Ecology
Food items (preys)
Födosammansättning
Födointag
Predatorer
Ekologi
Ekologi
Population dynamics
Tillväxt
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundans
Life cycle
Reproduktion
Könsmognad
Fecundity
Lek
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Distribution
Länder
FAO områden
Ekosystem
Förekomster
Utplanteringar
Physiology
Syreförbrukning
Human Related
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Medarbetare
Taxonomy
Populärnamn
synonymer
Morfologi
Bilder
referenser
referenser

Internet-källor

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(fiskeri: ; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, sök) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Very high vulnerability (78 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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