Widely distributed across the Atlantic Ocean, tarpon primarily inhabit shallow tropical and subtropical seas including coastal waters, bays, mangroves, estuaries, coral reefs, and lagoons. Tarpon have an amazing life cycle, likely spawning more than a hundred of miles offshore, where eggs fertilized in open water. They hatch as small, thin, clear larvae, which are similar in appearance to marine eel larvae. The larval tarpon then swim inshore, entering nursery grounds such as bays and estuaries at night, where they settle and grow into juvenile tarpon that look like miniature adults. Adult tarpon mostly feed nocturnally, swallowing their prey whole with their huge mouths. Tagging studies have indicated that some populations are migratory, while others are more resident, and still others show a mix of behaviors, with some adults undertaking long coastal migrations, while others are more resident to discrete locations.
