Megalops atlanticus

The Atlantic tarpon is a ray-finned fish that inhabits coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers. It is also known as the silver king. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean, typically in tropical and subtropical regions, though it has been reported as far north as Nova Scotia and the Atlantic coast of southern France, and as far south as Argentina. As with all elopiformes, it spawns at sea. Its diet includes small fish and crustaceans.

Megalops atlanticus

This illustration was made by Citron You must credit this : Citron / CC-BY-SA-3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MegalopsPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Elopiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Elopiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Elopiformes

Time the record covers

At least 12 million years on record.

The record covers at least 13.82 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 774 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 5 occurrencesMiocene — about 4 of 5 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 5 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1 of 5 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences7.3–6.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.5–5.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.7–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.8–1.1 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences1.1–274 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13.82 Mya1.8 Mya23.5 Mya274 ka

5 occurrences of Megalops atlanticus on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

5 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

5 formations

Bermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WChoptank — 38.16°N, 76.83°WEastover — 38.16°N, 76.83°W

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The named rock units Megalops atlanticus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Megalops atlanticus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Megalops atlanticus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

451 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 5 sites for Megalops atlanticus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

3 references

Each of the 5 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Megalops atlanticus

Credit
This illustration was made by Citron You must credit this : Citron / CC-BY-SA-3.0
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Megalops atlanticus · UF:Fish:78923

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMegalops through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Valenciennes 1847