The Tarpon 233 
The tarpon attains a length of seven or eight 
feet and a weight of four hundred pounds. 
Evermann states that a specimen weighing three 
hundred and eighty-three pounds has_ been 
harpooned, and from the descriptions of men 
who lived on the upper reef I am convinced 
that this is not the limit. In its habits the 
tarpon is a wandering, predaceous fish, preying 
upon sardines, mullet, and small fry of a similar 
nature. It devastates the schools, pursuing its 
course up the rivers into bays and over the flats, 
everywhere a rapacious fish, and by the fisher- 
men where it is liable to be seined, considered 
dangerous, owing to its habit of leaping to 
escape. The tarpon is not valued in America 
as a food fish, and many fishes hooked for the 
sport are released, the large specimens being 
mounted as trophies. The tarpon has a value 
outside of its flesh. The beautiful scales bring 
from ten to twenty-five cents apiece in the 
market. Dealers use them for various purposes; 
and some anglers, as a piscatorial carte de visite, 
write their name, the date, and the weight of the 
fish on the inside, and send the alluring object to 
some distant angling friend, who is thus zx/fected 
with the fishing-fever and made wholly miserable. 
