Tarpon
Megalops atlanticus
Tarpons
tarpons_g391
About
Tarpon are big, silvery fish famous for their leaping jumps and their ability to gulp air. In this app the group includes just the tarpon.
How to tell it apart
The large silvery scales, bluish-green back, and jutting lower jaw make the tarpon easy to spot among open-water fish. Watch for it rolling at the surface to gulp air.
Appearance
Tarpon grow to about 1.2 to 2.4 metres long. They have a bluish or greenish back and shiny silver scales covering most of the body, but not the head. The eyes are large, and the lower jaw juts out further than the rest of the face.
Habitat
Tarpon live along tropical and subtropical coasts, in both salt and fresh water. They often swim up rivers into marshes, and can also live in warm, shallow, murky water with sandy or muddy bottoms.
Behaviour
Tarpon can rise to the surface and gulp air, which gives them a short burst of extra energy and lets them survive in water with very little oxygen. Adults hunt mainly at night.
Diet
Adult tarpon are strictly carnivorous. They hunt at night in open water and swallow their prey whole.
Breeding
Tarpon breed offshore in warm, isolated areas, mostly in late spring to early summer. A female can lay up to 12 million eggs at once. Young tarpon pass through several very different stages before settling into their adult body shape.
Did you know?
Tarpon can gulp air at the surface and breathe it, letting them survive in water so low in oxygen that most other fish would die.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.