THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 293 



above Harrisburg. At the present time this method of capture is illegal. Both 

 adults and young eels ascend the streams in spring, the young coming in millions, 

 but in the fall run small eels are seldom seen. Till a comparatively recent date it 

 was not certainly known that the eels have eggs which are developed outside of the 

 body. Even now the breeding habits are scarcely known, but it is supposed that 

 spawning takes place late in the fall or during the winter near the mouths of rivers, 

 on muddy bottoms. Dr. Jordan has expressed the belief that the eel sometimes 

 breeds in fresh water, since he has found young eels less than an inch long in the 

 headwaters of the Alabama River, about 500 miles from the sea. It is estimated 

 that a large eel contains about 9,000,000 eggs. The eggs are very small, measuring 

 about 80 to an inch, and can scarcely be seen by the naked eye. 



The difference of size in the sexes has already been referred to. According to one 

 writer the males are much smaller than the females, rarely exceeding 15 or 16 inches 

 in length. The question whether eels will breed in fresh water has an important 

 bearing on their introduction into places from which they cannot reach the sea. 

 The generally accepted belief is that, while the eels will grow large and fat, they 

 will not reproduce under such circumstances. 



When the eels meet obstructions in streams they will leave the water and travel 

 through wet grass or over moist rocks. They have not been able to surmount the 

 Falls of Niagara. At the foot of this barrier hundreds of wagon loads of young 

 eels have been seen crawling over the rocks in their efforts to reach the upper 

 waters. 



Dr. Mitchill heard of an eel which was caught in one of the south bays of Long 

 Island that weighed 16^ pounds. He records the use of eelpots and the practice 

 of bobbing, and also the winter fishing by spearing. Dr. Mitchill states distinctly 

 that the ovaries of eels may be seen like those of other fish, but they are often mis- 

 taken for masses of fat. Dr. DeKay states that he had examined the silver eel of 

 the fishermen and was disposed to consider it only a variety of the common eel. 

 He characterizes it as " silvery gray above, with clear, satiny white abdomen, sepa- 

 rated from the color above by the lateral line." 



In captivity eels live many years. They delight to lie buried in the mud or sand 

 with only their heads out, ready for anything edible to come within reach. Mussels 

 and snails are picked out of the shells by them. (After Eugene Smith, Proc. Linn. 

 Soc. N. Y. No. 9, p. 29, 1897.) 



The eel in captivity is particularly liable to attacks of fungus, which do not 

 always yield to treatment with salt or brackish water ; but the parasite can be over- 

 come by placing the eel in a poorly lighted tank. 



