234 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March 



face ; (5) the development of some eels for the first fifteen days and that the 

 resulting creature is different both from the adult eel into which it will develop, 

 and from the larva of the eel ; (6) the Leptocephalus of the eel'and the process 

 of its metamorphosis"through"a Hemichthys stage into the young eel as it is 

 found entering the streams ; (7) [the young eels enter the streams during 

 spring about two years'after their parents have entered the sea. t 



Whether they ever do, or do not breed in fresh water is a 



question still unsolved : and in this connection Eigenmann says : 



The question whether or not the eel ever breeds in fresh water has been 

 answered in the affirmative by several observers. There is nothing that 

 would indicate the adherent impossibility of eels becoming land-locked and 

 breeding in fresh water The evidence is, however, so far inconclusive. No 

 one has yet taken eel eggs or larval eels, or younger eels than those that 

 >rdinarily ascend streams i'rom the ocean in any tresh water. The statement 

 that they must breed, because we know of no other way in which the supply 

 ot eels is being maintained in land-locked basins is not conclusive evidence 

 that they do breed in these basins. % 



It would seem, at first thought, incredible that eels from far 

 inland lakes should ever make their way to the sea, (and in the 

 case of the young, vice versa, from the sea to the lakes), but their 

 instincts lead them that way at the approach of the spawning 

 time ; and doubtless thousands perish in the attempt ; but we must 

 bear in mind their serpentile form, their wriggling movements, 

 and the fact that they can live for a considerable time out of water, 

 so that they are enabled to make their way through obstacles 

 utterly insurmountable to other fishes. 



They go to the sea when about four years old and are said 

 never to return ; the young ones taking their places by ascending 

 the streams in incalculable millions, a comparatively few ever 

 reaching the upland lakes and rivers, but the overcomers make use 

 of swollen tributaries, flood-gates, and even moist places between 

 shut off waters, in getting to the limits of their extensive geo- 

 graphical range. 



Brilliant Hues of Fishes of the Coral Reefs. 



Naturalists are well acquainted with a phenomenon known as 

 protective coloration in animals. In other words various animals 



+ Carl H. Eigenmann : I bid : p. 16. 

 *Carl H. Eigenmann : Ibid: p. 17. 



