Megalops cyprinoides

Megalops cyprinoides is a medium-sized tarpon, also known as the Indo-Pacific tarpon or simply herring.  Although widely distributed, as expected, their range is generally in the Indo-Pacific Oceans, including the waters of Australia, Japan, and North Africa.

However, Henry Fowler's 1945 book about fish found in waters from Maryland to Texas, Study of the Fishes of the Southern Piedmont and Coastal Plain, documents four of these fish found by Ocracoke resident Wallace Springer "in beach pool formed by storm September 15-16, 1933."

Indo Pacific Tarpon (United States public domain tag)

The fish were small, between 52 and 87 mm ( 2" - 3.5") long. Even accounting for the hurricane, I wonder how these fish ended up in the North Atlantic Ocean. You never know what might turn up on our beaches!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a history of the Ocracoke Lighthouse, with information (and an artist's sketch) about the earliest lantern room. You can read the Newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/ocracoke-lighthouse/.