Megalops atlanticus

Invasion History

First Non-native Panama (Pacific) Tidal Record: 1937

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Panama Invasion History:

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Invasion history elsewhere in the world:

None

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Description

None

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Megalops atlanticus,/i> (Atlantic tarpon spawns in offshore waters, up to 100 km offshore. Pelagic eggs hatch into leptocephalus larvae which drift inshore as they develop. Late larvae are euryhaline, and juveniles frequently enter fresh water (Jones et al. 1978)

Food:

Fishes

Consumers:

Humans

Trophic Status:

Carnivore

Carn

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Habitats

General Habitat	Grass Bed	None
General Habitat	Nontidal Freshwater	None
General Habitat	Tidal Fresh Marsh	None
General Habitat	Salt-brackish marsh	None
General Habitat	Unstructured Bottom	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
General Habitat	Mangroves	None
General Habitat	Canals	None
Salinity Range	Limnetic	0-0.5 PSU
Salinity Range	Oligohaline	0.5-5 PSU
Salinity Range	Mesohaline	5-18 PSU
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Salinity Range	Hyperhaline	40+ PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Nektonic	None

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Temperature (ºC)	12	Field (Jones 1978)
Maximum Temperature (ºC)	40	Field (Jones 1978)
Minimum Salinity (‰)	0	Field (Hildebrand 1939; Jones 1978, juveniles-adults)
Maximum Salinity (‰)	47	Field (Jones 1978, juveniles-adults)
Maximum Length (mm)	2,500	Robertson and Allen 2015
Broad Temperature Range	None	Warm temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Nontidal Limnetic-Hyperhaline

General Impacts

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References

Castellanos-Galindo, Gustavo A.; .Robertson, D. Ross; . Pacheco-Chaves, Bernald; . Arturo Angulo . Chong-Montenegro, Carolina (2019) Atlantic Tarpon in the tropical Eastern Pacific 80 years after it first crossed the Panama Canal, Review of Fish Biology and Fisheries 29: 401-416

Arzul, Isabelle; Garcia, Céline; Chollet, Bruno; Serpin, Delphine ; Lupo, Coralie; Noyer, Mathilde; Tourbiez, Delphine; Berland, Chloé; Dégremont. Lionel; Travers, Marie-Agnès (2022) First characterization of the parasite Haplosporidium costale in France and development of a real-time PCR assay for its rapid detection in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, Transboundary and Emerging Diseases 69(e2049): Published online
DOI: 10.1111/tbed.14541

Bigelow, Henry B.; Schroeder, William C. (1953) Fishes of the Gulf of Maine, Fishery Bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service 53: 1-577

Brunetti, Riccardo; Griggio, Francesca; Mastrototaro, Francesco; 3, F Gasparini, Fabio; Gissi, Carmela (2020) Toward a resolution of the cosmopolitan Botryllus schlosseri species complex (Ascidiacea, Styelidae):, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 190: 1175-1192

Castellanos-Galindo, Gustavo A. ; Robertson, D. Ross ; Torchin, Mark E. (2020) A new wave of marine fish invasions through the Panama and Suez canals, Nature Ecology and Evolution 4: 1444–1446

Cohen, Andrew N. (2006) Bridging divides: Maritime canals as invasion corridors., Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands. Pp. 127-206

Froese, R.; Pauly, D. (Editors). 2002-2024 FishBase.(World Wide Web electronic publication).. <missing URL>



Hildebrand, Samuel F. (1939) The Panama Canal as a passageway for fishes, with lists and remarks on the fishes and invertebrates observed, Zoologica (New york Zoological Society) 24: 15-45

Jones, Philip W.; Martin, F. Douglas; Hardy, Jerry D., Jr. (1978) Development of fishes of the mid-Atlantic Bight. V. 1. Acipenseridae through Ictaluridae., In: (Eds.) . , Washington DC. Pp. <missing location>

McCosker, J.E., Dawson, C.E. (1975) Biotic passage through the Panama Canal, with particular reference to fishes, Marine Biology 30: 343-351

Murdy, Edward O.; Birdsong, Ray S.; Musick, John A. (1997) Fishes of Chesapeake Bay, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.. Pp. 57-289

Pestana, Lueji Barros; Dias, Gustavo Muniz; Marquesa, Antonio Carlos (2017) A century of introductions by coastal sessile marine invertebrates in Angola, South East Atlantic Ocean, Marine Pollution Bulletin 125: 426-a432

Robins, C. Richard; Ray, G. Carleton; Douglass, John; Freund, Rudolf 1943 (1986) <missing title>, Houhgton Mifflin, Boston. Pp. <missing location>

U.S. National Museum of Natural History 1996-2014 NMNH Fish Collection Database.. <missing URL>

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