Spotted gar live in quiet bays and backwaters along Lake Erie's north shore in Long Point Bay, Point Pelee and Rondeau Bay. The gar seems to prefer areas with abundant aquatic vegetation and a lake floor that's composed of soft mud and organic debris. Spotted gar can survive well in areas of warm water and low dissolved oxygen.

A streamlined predator, the spotted gar has a long, beak-like mouth packed with sharp teeth. The gar's body is long and cylindrical; olive-brown on top and grey underneath. The fish usually grows to between 28 and 60 centimetres in length, but individual gars have been known to grow to over one metre. And as its name suggests, it has distinctive spotting on its head, body and fins. Male spotted gars mature when they are two or three years old; females at three or four years.