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

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

"Bahia Honda has most likely been a place where sharks and tarpon have congregated for a very long time," says Andy Danylchuk, senior author and professor of fish conservation at UMass Amherst.

From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024

Over the course of more than two years, every time one of the tagged tarpon or hammerheads swam within range of the receiver, the receiver would log that individual animal's unique ID, date and time.

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

Upstream a school of baby tarpon rolled, also with lunch on their minds.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen