Tarpon

There are two species of Tarpon, one native to the Atlantic, and the other to the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae and genus Megalops.

Tarpon are large coastal fish growing up to 8 feet in length. They are large-headed, relatively slender silver-sided fish with extremely large scales.

Tarpon are prized by anglers for their leaping, head-shaking fight. However they have little to no food value and are normally released un-harmed.

When swimming in oxygen-poor water, tarpons can breathe air from the surface using their swim bladder as a primitive lung. They have leptocephalus larvae similar to those of eels, which float in surface waters before taking on the adult form, at which time they migrate to inshore waters where they mature before returning to the ocean . The genus name derives from the Greek adjective μεγάλο- - megalo- meaning "large", and the noun ὤψ - ops, meaning "eye".

Species

Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus
Indo-Pacific tarpon, Megalops cyprinoides

Translation

The word "Tarpon" occurs as such in the following languages: English, French.

Translation(s) in other languages: German: Tarpune, Lithuanian: Tarpūninės, Japanese: ターポン, Russian: Тарпон, Finnish: Tarponi, Vietnamese: Họ Cá cháo lớn, Thai: วงศ์ปลาตาเหลือก.