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| More About Tarpon - The Sliver King |
From Prehistoric times the tarpon is one of the most interesting fish in the world.
Fossil research shows that Tarpon have been swimming in our oceans from prehistoric times to modern times with very little physical change.
Because of it's strength and, stamina and fighting ability, the tarpon is one of the Florida Keys premier game fish. Due to the majestic appearance of size and color, the tarpon is nicknamed "The Silver King." Tarpon have a brilliant silver body covered with very large scales, the lower jaw that juts out and up. The large eyes are located toward the top of their head primarily looking up at the surface when forging for food. The last ray of the dorsal fin is greatly extended.
How Tarpon Breathe
The tarpon is a fish with an air bladder that allows it to take oxygen directly from the air. This is a special ability to gulp air at the surface when there is a habitat that doesn't have enough oxygen. They can breathe both under the water and out of it. When there is enough oxygen in the water they breathe like a fish using their gills, when low oxygen levels are present they also breathe by gulping air which is then passed to their air bladder which then functions like a primitive lung and even resembles one, with it's spongy, highly lung like tissue. The air bladder can also be filled with air as needed to help the tarpon maintain its desired depth in the water.
The tarpon's ability to breathe air allows it to survive in the stagnant, oxygen-poor water and the small ditches it frequents. Because of this ability to gulp air directly into its air bladder by "rolling" at the surface, the tarpon is able to go into brackish and fresh waters that are stagnant and almost without oxygen. Such areas are free of predators, offering safe refuge for it's young.
Tarpon Environments
The tarpon is found in warm temperate tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Because tarpon are extremely sensitive to cold water, their range is generally limited to temperate climate. They can tolerate various salinities, but are venerable to cold snaps and become stressed when water temperatures go below 55 degrees. Although adults can swim away from the cold by going into deep holes and channels, young fish are less able to escape the cold.
Tarpon range from Virginia to central Brazil in the western Atlantic, along the coast of Africa in the eastern Atlantic, all through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Although tarpon do migrate little is known about the frequency or extent of their travels. Tarpon captured in Florida have later been recaptured far west as Louisiana and as far north as Virginia. So some evidence does exist of a westward and northern migration.
Tarpon are primarily found in shallow waters and estuaries, but they are also found in open waters, around coral reefs and in some freshwater lakes and rivers.
Fishing for Tarpon
Although Tarpon appear to be sensitive to noise and boat traffic and may become skittish and reluctant to take a bait when the water is crowded with boaters, tarpon are unlike many other fish in that they can be found in highly urbanized areas with poor water quality. They will take a variety of live and dead bait as well as artificial lures and flies. Tarpon can only be fished recreationally in Florida. The majority of recreational anglers practice catch-and-release since tarpon is not considered to be of any food value.
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