#2328 · 🐟 fish
Atlantic Tarpon
🇳🇱 Tarpon trapoen ·Megalops atlanticus
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Rachel Andres-Beck · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Matteo Cassella · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. © q phia · CC BY 4.0
- 4. © Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 5. © paaigehansen · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © craigjhowe · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Jane Kempler & Andrew Goldby Freelance · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 8. © Jane Kempler & Andrew Goldby Freelance · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 9. © Drew · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Squidpastry · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The Atlantic tarpon ( Megalops atlanticus ) inhabits coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers. Tarpons feed almost exclusively on schooling fish and occasionally crabs. A tarpon is capable of filling its swim bladder with air, like a primitive lung. This gives the tarpon a predatory advantage when oxygen levels in the water are low. 5 m (8 ft 2 in) in length and weighing up to 161 kg (355 lb). The Atlantic tarpon is also known...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 4,605 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Achille Valenciennes in 1847 (179 years ago).
- Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
fact sheet
- English
- Atlantic Tarpon
- Nederlands
- Tarpon trapoen
- scientific name
- Megalops atlanticus
- class
- Actinopterygii
- order
- Elopiformes
- family
- Megalopidae
- IUCN Red List
- VU · vulnerable
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 4,605
- GBIF records in NL
- 1
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1847 by Achille Valenciennes
IUCN in Dutch: kwetsbaar. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 51402, Wikidata Q756975, GBIF 5203123, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.