Tarpon
Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: enormous silver plate-like scales, each a couple of inches across on an adult. The look-alike to rule out is Ladyfish: ladyfish are far smaller and more slender, with much smaller scales and no dorsal filament.
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| Scientific name | Megalops atlanticus |
|---|---|
| Also called | silver king, sabalo, poon |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Tarpon |
| Temperature | Prefers 74 to 88 °F and moves out of water below about 65 °F. The migration follows that warming line north each spring. |
How to identify a Tarpon
- Enormous silver plate-like scales, each a couple of inches across on an adult.
- A long filament trailing from the last ray of the dorsal fin.
- A steeply upturned mouth with a bony, sandpaper-hard lower jaw jutting forward.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Ladyfish | Ladyfish are far smaller and more slender, with much smaller scales and no dorsal filament. |
| Milkfish | Milkfish have a small toothless mouth and a deeply forked tail, and no trailing dorsal ray. |
Read the full entry for Ladyfish.
Where it lives
Warm Atlantic waters, with the North American fishery centred on Florida, the Gulf and the Caribbean. Migrates along beaches, through passes and into back-country basins and rivers.
Temperature
Prefers 74 to 88 °F and moves out of water below about 65 °F. The migration follows that warming line north each spring.
The conditions that matter
Tarpon can gulp air, so they hold in low-oxygen back-country water others cannot. The fishery runs on tide: the pass and bridge fishing concentrates on strong moving water, and the beach migration is read against the tide table and the wind. Moon phase drives the biggest tides and, with them, the best passes. Water temperature per catch is what tells you when the fish arrive on your stretch.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about tarpon into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.