First record of the atlantic tarpon Megalops atlanticus (Elopiformes: Megalopidae) in the Southeast Pacific, Peru

Abstract

The tarpon Megalops atlanticus Valenciennes, 1847, a native fish of the Atlantic Ocean, is recorded for the first time in the Southeast Pacific region (Peru). It is presumed that about 80 years ago this species crossed from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal, adapting and expanding its distribution to the north and south in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (currently distributed from Guatemala to southern Colombia). A specimen measuring 129 cm in length and 18 kg in weight was recorded, caught by an artisanal fisherman with his net, in the locality of Bonanza, Tumbes, in northern Peru (3°42’44.47”S - 80°44’35.51”W). This is the first record of Megalops atlanticus in Peru extending >500 km to the south its distribution range in the eastern Pacific Ocean.