Indo-Pacific tarpon

Megalops cyprinoides

Fish
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth0–70 m
Water temperature19–30 °C
Best monthsApril, June, and November
How commonOccasional

About this species

The Indo-Pacific tarpon, also known as the oxeye herring or simply herring due to its superficial resemblance to the true herrings, of which it is not a member, is the smaller of the two species of tarpon and lives in Indo-Pacific waters.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Indo-Pacific tarpon”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 14 records
February: 14 records
March: 18 records
April: 49 records
May: 20 records
June: 33 records
July: 27 records
August: 28 records
September: 30 records
October: 30 records
November: 46 records
December: 13 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–70 m · Deepest record: 287 m

0–10 m: 38 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 19–30 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 7 records
22–24 °C: 10 records
24–26 °C: 44 records
26–28 °C: 48 records
28–30 °C: 76 records

Names and classification

English: Indo-Pacific tarpon, Indopacific Tarpon, oxeye, Oxeye Herring, Ox-eye Tarpon

Names in 8 more languages

German: Indopazifischer Tarpun
Spanish: tarpón indo-pacífico
French: Tarpon, tarpon indo-pacifique
Indonesian: Bulan-bulan
Japanese: Isegoi, イセゴイ
Korean: 풀잉어, 인도-태평양 타폰
Thai: ปลาตาเหลือก, ปลาตาเหลือกสั้น
Simplified Chinese: 大海鰱, 大海鰱 (大眼海鰱), 大眼海鰱, 海菴, 海鰱, 溪鰳, 粗鱗鰱, 草鰱

Other scientific names: Brisbania staigeri, Clupea cyprinoides, Clupea gigantea, Clupea thrissoides, Cyprinodon cundinga, Elops cundinga, Elops cyprinoides, Magalops cyprinoides, Megalops cundinga, Megalops curtifilis, Megalops cyoprinoides, Megalops filamentosus, Megalops giganteus, Megalops indicus, Megalops kundinga, Megalops macrophthalmus, Megalops macropterus, Megalops oligolepis, Megalops setipinnis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,030 open-data records from 1782 to 2024.

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