tarpon

American  

[tahr-puhn] / ˈtɑr pən /

noun

plural

tarpons,

plural

tarpon

1. a large, powerful game fish, Megalops atlantica, inhabiting the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean, having a compressed body and large, silvery scales.

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tarpon British  

/ ˈtɑːpən /

noun

1. a large silvery clupeoid game fish, Tarpon atlanticus, of warm Atlantic waters, having a compressed body covered with large scales: family Elopidae

2. another name for ox-eye herring

3. any similar related fish

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Etymology

Origin of tarpon

1675–85; earlier tarpum, trapham, terbum, of uncertain origin; compare Dutch tarpoen; words in various Indian languages of Central America ( Miskito tapam, Sumo tahpam, Rama tā́pum, Paya ta’pam ) probably ultimately < English

Example Sentences

But, until now, there's been no hard data on just what the depredation rate might be, which makes it difficult to make informed conservation decisions, for either the tarpon or the hammerheads.

From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024

Yet, despite the legendary toughness of the species, the tarpon is listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, and their populations seem to have been affected by fishing, degraded water quality and habitat loss.

From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024

Recently, guides have been increasingly reporting that sharks are taking a bigger bite out of the tarpon catch in recent years, and may, in fact, pose a risk to the species' survival.

From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024

Setting out into the Gulf of Mexico in threes and fours, fishermen returned with buckets of tarpon and long, streaked snook.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2023

The splash of a feeding tarpon upstream put him on alert, and sure enough, the surface of the water began to shake and boil.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen