Tarpon

Quick Take

• Fishermen obsess over tarpon worldwide, though catching one for the dinner table would be a mistake most anglers never make twice. Sport fishing and cooking →
• Tarpon thrive in oxygen-starved, low-quality water that kills most fish, and the biological trick behind it is hidden in plain sight. Habitat tolerance explained →
• A mouth full of teeth that can't tear or chew raises one obvious question: how does one of the ocean's apex predators actually eat? Jaw and dental features →
• The tarpon's family tree predates the dinosaurs' extinction, a fact rooted in ancient origins that explains something strange about how it is classified today. Ancient origins and classification →

The tarpon, also known as the silver king, silverfish, silver sides, and sabalo, is a versatile fish that lives mostly in oceans but also in freshwater areas, including rivers and marshes. Consisting of two species, the Atlantic tarpon and the Pacific tarpon, it is a popular game fish prized not for its flesh but for its fighting vigor when hooked. Protected by extensive regulations, the Atlantic tarpon is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

5 Incredible Tarpon Facts

• The Silver King: Although dark blue to greenish-black in color from above, the tarpon’s sides are covered in large, silvery scales that lend it its nickname: silver king.
• Modified Swim Bladder: The tarpon fish’s unique swim bladder allows it to fill up with gulped air, which it obtains by making short bursts to the surface.
• Thermophilic: Tarpon fish thrive at relatively high temperatures and prefer water that is between 72 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Huge: The current IGFA world record for the largest Atlantic tarpon caught is for a fish that weighed 286 pounds, 9 ounces.
• Ancient: The genus to which the tarpon fish belongs, Megalops, dates back approximately 113 million years to the Cretaceous period, and the tarpon is among the most primitive species across 30 orders of bony fish.

Classification and Scientific Name

These fish belong to the order Elopiformes, which also includes ladyfish. They belong to the family Megalopidae and the genus Megalops. The genus consists of two species with the following scientific names: the Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus, and the Pacific tarpon, M. cyprinoides.

This fish has many alternative names, but the best-known is “silver king,” which refers to the bright flash they make when their silvery scales reflect sunlight as they fight on the end of a fishing line. Other nicknames for tarpon include silver sides, grand ecaille, and sabalo real.

The name of its genus, Megalops, is derived from the Greek word megas, or megalos, meaning “great,” and the Greek word ops, meaning “appearance.”

Species

There are only two species of tarpon, both of which belong to the genus Megalops.

• Atlantic Tarpon: This fish, the Megalops atlanticus, lives mostly in warm parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also found on the Pacific side of Central America and occasionally in rivers.
• Pacific Tarpon: The Pacific tarpon, Megalops cyprinoides, primarily inhabits the waters of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. It is similar to the Atlantic tarpon.

Appearance

This popular game fish grows to an average size of about six feet long and roughly 100 pounds. The largest recorded catch, the current IGFA world record, was for an Atlantic tarpon weighing 286 pounds, 9 ounces. From above, the fish may appear to be dark-blue, greenish-black, or even brassy in color. Large scales coat their sides with a bright, shiny coloration that makes the fish flash and gleam in sunlight.

Related to bonefish and ladyfish, these fish have a long body with large pelvic fins and long pectoral fins. A long, bony plate extends along their upturned lower jaw, allowing them to crush prey when necessary. Their mouths are filled with fine, densely packed teeth that aren’t very sharp. Since their teeth aren’t suited for tearing or chewing, tarpons generally swallow their prey whole.

Distribution, Population, and Habitat

Populations of tarpons are widely fragmented, making it difficult to arrive at accurate population estimates. The Atlantic tarpon is mostly found inshore in warm areas of the Atlantic Ocean, including the Eastern Atlantic from Senegal to the Congo and the Western Atlantic in the Gulf of Mexico, around the Florida Keys, and around the West Indies. It is also found on the Pacific side of Central America and occasionally in rivers. The Pacific tarpon, meanwhile, is mostly found along the coastal waters of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula through southern Australia, French Polynesia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and southern Japan.

Both species primarily live in coastal waters, estuaries, bays, and mangrove lagoons within tropical, subtropical, and temperate areas. They are amphidromous, travelling between seas and rivers. Their modified air bladders allow them to tolerate oxygen-poor environments and various pH levels, and they can swim to depths of around 100 feet.

Predators and Prey

What Eats Tarpon?

While still in the egg and larval stages, these fish are preyed on by zooplankton and various small fishes. As juveniles, they are hunted by piscivorous birds while developing in nursery areas. Adults are mostly hunted by large sharks, including hammerhead sharks and bull sharks, but they’re also preyed on occasionally by porpoises and even alligators.

What Does Tarpon Eat?

Immature fish are planktivorous, meaning that they feed mostly on zooplankton; they also prey on insects and small fish. Older juveniles mostly prey on fish and large invertebrates like crabs and shrimp. Adult fish are strict carnivores that mostly subsist on mid-water prey, including pinfish, sardines, mullet, and marine catfish.

Reproduction and Lifespan

On average, males live to an age of 30 years or more; females live to an age of 50 years or more. One of the longest-living tarpons on record is a female that was housed at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. When she died in 1998, she was 63 years old.

Tarpons are believed to spawn primarily during May, June, and July; however, some evidence suggests they may spawn year-round. These fish perform exhausting migrations to offshore spawning areas with warm waters, and ocean currents move the resulting larvae to inshore nurseries.

These fish reach sexual maturity at six to seven years of age, or when they reach a length of approximately 4 feet. Females have extremely high fecundity and can lay upwards of 12 million eggs at a time. Stage-one larvae spend their time near the surface of clear, calm ocean waters. At stages two and three, larvae may progress into salt marshes and tidal pools before ascending into freshwater rivers and creeks. As they grow into adults, they typically return to open ocean areas; however, they also sometimes remain in freshwater areas.

Fishing and Cooking

The flesh of the tarpon is widely regarded as undesirable, as it is full of small bones and tends to have an unpleasant odor. However, the fish is sometimes consumed as a delicacy in places like Panama, Africa, and the West Indies.

Fishing

Tarpons are popular game fish. In places like Florida, they are commonly fished for sport rather than for food. Catching one of these fish is considered a major coup or even a rite of passage for sport fishermen, owing to the wild, thrashing fight the fish puts up when hooked. With their ability to leap upwards of 10 feet into the air while rattling their gills, they are a sight to behold.

Strict regulations are in place concerning the fishing of tarpons. In Florida, tarpon is a catch-and-release only fishery, except when pursuing a state or world record, for which anglers may purchase one tarpon tag per person per year.

The tarpon is also the largest species targeted by fly fishermen in shallow waters.