34' THE TARPON 



The large ones at lea^t are not edible. Aecordiiig to 

 Schomburgk (1848), they are considered delicate eat- 

 ing in the Barbados. Mr. W. H. BarraU writing in 

 1874 to> Forest cmd Stream said they are very pala- 

 table. Dimock cured and dried the meat and speakS' 

 very; enthnsiastically of the fishballs his guide made 

 out of it. Several years ago they were sold in the 

 pubEc markets at New Bedford, Mass., but the people 

 did not like them owing to the toughness of the flesh. 

 They are eaten in the West Indies and are sold in the 

 Havana fish markets under the name of Sabalo. The 

 Mexicans eat them after they are salted. Dr. Jordan 

 is authority for the statement that people who relish 

 raw fish meat like the Hawaiians and Japanese, prefer 

 the meat of the Elopidae to a more close fibered and 

 tender fish. The vjery small fish mat/ be good; but the 

 old ones are unpalatable. The Megalops cyprmoides 

 of the Indian Ocean is kept in fresh water tanks for 

 consumption by the natives and is highly relished. 

 Mr. T. SaviUe Kent in an article in Badminton Maga- 

 zine for 1895 describing the so-called Ox Eye herring 

 around Australia says it is there considered most 

 excellent eating. 



The tarpon probably attains a weight of four hun- 

 dred pounds and a length of over eight feet. One was 

 captured on a hand line which was eight feet three 

 inches in length, but this immense fish weighed net 

 2091/^ pounds. It is reported that the largest tarpon 

 ever captured weighed 383 pounds. I could not verify 

 this record. The following schedule will show the rec- 

 ords at various places : 



