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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: tarpon
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Hoese and Moore (1977); Manooch (1984); Robins and Ray (1986); Murdy et al. (1997).
Size: 2.4 m.
Native Range: Marine and estuarine. Virginia (occasionally Nova Scotia), Bermuda, and
Gulf of Mexico to Brazil; also eastern Atlantic; occasional near
Pacific terminus of Panama Canal (Robins and Ray 1986). Murdy et al.
(1997) reported this species occasionally gets as far north as
Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, as a result of seasonal movement via the Gulf
Stream.
Nonindigenous Occurrences: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stocked 34 young tarpon from a drainage ditch in Calhoun County into Victor Braunig Reservoir, Bexar County, during 1984 and 1985. One fish was recovered by an angler in 1986, and another found dead in 1989. The latter fish died either from cold or from the effects of explosives being used to dissipate dying blue tilapia from a power plant intake. The tarpon had several blue tilapia in its stomach and one in its mouth (Howells and Garrett 1992).
Means of Introduction: These fish were part of a group of stranded tarpons used for cold tolerance studies. Tarpon were released into the Texas reservoir after the experiments ended (Howells and Garrett 1992).
Status: Some of the released tarpon may still be surviving in reservoirs, but it is unlikely that they are capable of spawning in the freshwater impoundment (Howells and Garrett 1992).
Impact of Introduction: Except for some predation on introduced blue tilapia Oreochromis aureus, effects of the introduction are unknown.
Remarks: The tarpon is a prized sport fish.
Howells, R. G., and G. P. Garrett. 1992. Status of some exotic sport fishes in Texas waters. Texas Journal of Science 44(3):317-324.
Robins, C. R., G. C. Ray, and J. Douglass. 1986. A field guide to Atlantic Coast fishes of North America. The Peterson Guide Series, volume 32. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Pam Fuller
Revision Date: 6/3/2004 Citation for this information:
Pam Fuller. 2009. Megalops atlanticus. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=775> Revision Date: 6/3/2004
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