THE TARPON 45 



I visited the pond this year (1936) and saw several tarpon 

 coming up for a mouthful of air, so some survived the freeze 

 unless a storm had contributed a fresh supply. 



In 1934 I found a pool in the woods which had its sole con- 

 nection with the waters of Charlotte Harbor through a rail- 

 road ditch. During high tides the waters ran up to the pool, 

 a distance of several hundred yards, but at times the ditch was 

 dry. The pool was full of tarpon. We tried to seine it but the 

 water was too shallow and the mud too deep. In 1935 the ditch 

 was blocked up and the pool had disappeared. 



Why are the tarpon attracted to places little better than 

 bogs when the adults shun muddy water in the Passes? Why 

 do they venture up fresh water creeks and channels into very 

 shallow water and ill-adapted surroundings? A tarpon nine- 

 teen inches long is probably in the second year of its life. If 

 they are spawned in June, July or August and pass through 

 a leptocephalus stage, they may only reach a growth of twelve 

 or fourteen inches during the first year of life. I reach that 

 conclusion from reports on specimens the Bureau of Fisheries 

 has examined at my request. When a fish is confined within a 

 narrow range, where food is limited, it grows very slowly. I 

 doubt if the fish seined out of this railroad pool attained any 

 material increase in size while they were there. Nothing less 

 than eleven-inch tarpon were taken. I confess I cannot think 

 of any reasonable explanation to account for their seeking to 

 use a scummy pool instead of the pure and salt waters of the 

 Gulf or Harbor with their wide range and unlimited supplies 

 of food. The fresh or nearly fresh water may rid them of 

 parasites but it is unlikely that they ascend streams or inhabit 

 pools for that purpose. They doubtless breed nearby but I 

 never saw very small tarpon in this vicinity. The keeneyed 

 fishermen are seining minnows for bait in this locality 

 throughout the year but they have never captured a very 

 young one. 



In February, 1933, Dr. C. M. Breder, Jr., of the New York 

 Aquarium, visited Andros Island, which lies about 150 miles 



