53. ANGUILLID^E ANGUILLA. 361 



173. ATVOU1LLA Thunberg. 

 Eels. 



(Thunberg, Nouv. M6m. Stockh. about 1791: type Murcena anguilla L.) 



Body elongate, compressed behind, covered with imbedded scales, 

 which are linear in form, and placed obliquely, some of them at 

 right angles to others. Lateral line well developed. Head long con- 

 ical, moderately pointed, the rather small eye well forward and over 

 the angle of the mouth. Teeth small, subequal, in bauds on each jaw 

 and a long patch on the vomer. Tongue free at tip. Lips rather full, 

 with a free margin behind, attached by a frenuin in front. Lower jaw 

 projecting. Gill-openings rather small, slit-like, about as wide as base 

 of pectorals and partly below them. Nostrils superior, well separated, 

 the anterior with a slight tube. Vent close in front of anal. Dorsal 

 inserted at some distance from the head, confluent with the anal around 

 the tail. Pectorals well developed. Species numerous, in most warm 

 seas, ascending streams, but mostly spawning in the sea. (Latin, angu- 

 illa, an eel.) 



5'7. A. rostrata* (Le Sueur) Dekay. Common Eel. 



Brown, nearly plain, often tinged with yellowish; paler below. Dis- 

 tance from snout to dorsal about one-third the length. Distance between 

 anal and front of dorsal about equal to the length of the head. Head 

 S in length, 2^ in distance from gills to vent. Pectoral shorter than 

 mandible. L. 50 inches. Atlantic coast of the United States ; very 

 abundant from Maine to Mexico ; ascending all streams and resident 

 throughout the Mississippi Valley. Also recorded from China. 



{Murcena rostrata and bostoniensis Le Sueur, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. i, 81: An- 

 guilla bostoniensis Gun the r, vii, 31. Var. ? texana Kaup, from the Gulf of Mexico is 

 characterized by its thicker lips: Anguilla texana Kaup, Apodal Fish. 45: Anguilla 

 tyrannus Grd. U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. Ichth. 75.) 



* Another species has been accredited to our coast, viz : 



A. vulgaris Raf. European Eel. Distance from snont to dorsal 3f in length. 

 Distance from front of anal to front of dorsal, about a third longer than the head. 

 Head 9J in length. Pectoral about, as long as the mandible. Vertebrae 45 + 70. Coasts 

 of Europe, perhaps straying to our coasts-. " I have examined an example from New 

 Jersey : it is in the Liverpool Museum (Gunther)." 



(Murcjna anguilla L. Syst. Nat.; Rafiuesque, Indice d'lttiol. Sicil. 1810, 37; Turton, 

 Brit. Fauna, 87; Gunther, viii, 28: Anguilla acutirostris Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, 198.) 



