FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



87 



Tarpon Tarpon atlanticus (Cuvier and Valenci- 

 ennes) 1846 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 409, fig. 177. 



Description. — The tarpon is herring-like in gen- 

 eral form and appearance, but it is made easily 

 recognizable by the fact that the last ray of the 

 dorsal fin is greatly prolonged, its free portion 

 being as long as the fin is high or longer, and by 

 the presence of the bony plate on the throat men- 

 tioned above (p. 85) in the characterization of 

 the famdy to which it belongs. Furthermore, the 

 anal fin of the tarpon is deeply falcate; that of 

 all Gulf of Maine herring-fishes rhomboid in out- 

 line. The ventral fins, which are situated under 

 or behind the dorsal fin in herrings, alewives, shad, 

 and menhaden, are considerably in front of the 

 dorsal fin in the tarpon, while the lower jaw of the 

 latter projects relatively further; its scales are 

 relatively larger; and its caudal fin is relatively 

 wider. 



Color.— Bright silvery all over, the back darker 

 than the belly. 



Size. — Tarpon grow to a length of 6 to 8 feet; 

 the longest recorded was 8 feet 2 inches; the 



heaviest taken on rod and reel weighed 247 

 pounds. 15 



General range. — Tropical and subtropical coasts 

 of America, from Brazil to Long Island, casually to 

 Cape Cod, and to Nova Scotia, where it has been 

 recorded off Isaacs Harbor and in Harrigan 

 Cove. 18 Its chief center of abundance is in the 

 West Indies, about Florida, and in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



Occurrence in the Gulf oj Maine.- — A specimen 

 5% feet long, taken at Provincetown on July 25, 

 1915, 17 is the only record of the tarpon in the Gulf 

 of Maine, which it reaches only as an accidental 

 straggler from the south. 



Round herring Etrumeus sadina (Mitchill) 1815 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 420. 



Description. — The most distinctive feature of 

 this fish, among herrings, is that its belly is 

 rounded, not sharp edged. It is, furthermore, the 

 most slender of our herrings, its body being only 



>• Taken on rod and reel in the Panuco River, Mexico, Mar. 24, 1938, by 

 H. W. Sedgewick. 

 i* Halkett, Check List, Fishes Canada, Newfoundland, 1913, p. 46. 

 i' Radcliffe, Copeia, No. 26, 1916, p. 3. 



Figure 39. — Tarpon (.Tarpon atlanticus), New Jersey. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



Figure 40. — Round herring (Etrumeus sadina). 



