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tarpon

 
Dictionary: tar·pon   (tär'pən) pronunciation
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n., pl., tarpon, or -pons.
Any of several fishes of the family Elopidae or Megalopidae, especially a large silvery game fish (Megalops atlanticus) of Atlantic coastal waters.

[Origin unknown.]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: tarpon
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Young Atlantic tarpon (Tarpon atlanticus)
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Young Atlantic tarpon (Tarpon atlanticus) (credit: Courtesy of Miami Seaquarium)
Any of certain marine fish (family Megalopidae) having an elongated last dorsal fin ray and a bony throat plate between the sides of the protruding lower jaw. The scales are large, thick, and silvery. The Atlantic tarpon (Tarpon atlanticus or Megalops atlanticus) is found inshore in warm parts of the Atlantic Ocean, on the Pacific Ocean side of Central America, and sometimes in rivers. It habitually breaks the water's surface and gulps air. It grows to 6 ft (1.8 m) and 100 lb (45 kg) or larger and is a favourite game fish. The Pacific tarpon (M. cyprinoides) is similar.

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Columbia Encyclopedia: tarpon
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tarpon (tär'pŏn), common name for members of the family Elopidae, large herringlike game fish of the warm seas of the Western Hemisphere, ranging occasionally from Long Island to Brazil and to the west coast of Africa and entering freshwater streams freely. Their heavy, silvery scales, sometimes used as ornaments, give them the name silver king. Tarpons average 6 ft (183 cm) in length and 150 lb (67.5 kg) in weight, although some may be over 8 ft (244 cm) long and weigh more than 300 lb (135 kg). Active and predacious, they prey on schools of small fry. They are favorites of deep-sea fishermen, particularly Tarpon atlanticus, found in the warmer parts of the Atlantic Ocean. Tarpons are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Clupeiformes, family Elopidae.

WordNet: tarpon
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: large silvery game fish of warm Atlantic coastal waters especially off Florida
  Synonym: Tarpon atlanticus

Wikipedia: Tarpon
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For other uses, see Tarpon (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Tarpan.
Tarpon
Fossil range: Late Miocene to Present
[1]
Atlantic tarpon
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Elopiformes
Family: Megalopidae
Genus: Megalops
Valenciennes, 1847
Species

Megalops atlanticus
Megalops cyprinoides

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 .[2] The genus name derives from the Greek adjective μεγάλο- - megalo- meaning "large", and the noun ὤψ - ops, meaning "eye".

Species

References

  1. ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560. http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class. Retrieved 2008-01-08. 
  2. ^ McCosker, John F. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-12-547665-5. 

External links

  • References to the genus Megalops in The Biodiversity Heritage Library

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tarpon".  Read more