734 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



a much more developed net-work of vessels; their lobes are very dis- 

 tinct, and tbe deferent canals are usually open, while the ovaries present 

 the appearance of two continuous ribbons, have a more delicate tissue, 



Fig. 21. 



Fig. 21. Three lobes of the right testicle, with the deferent canal (enlarged ten times). 



a. Lobes, seen from their outer surface. 



b. Lobe, seen from its inner surface. 



c. Deferent canal. 



d. Anterior part of the same. 



and contain the 



eggs 



with the 



and an almost mucous appearance, 

 germinative vesicles. 



The deferent canals and the genital orifice are closed in young eels of 

 the male sex, and open simultaneously with the development of the lobes. 



In the male eels examined by me from March to October, I have found 

 individuals of 400 millimeters and more in length, whose genital orifice 

 and deferent canals were invariably open, while in some of the smaller 

 ones they were closed and in others open. 



Fig. 23. 



TIG. 22. Piece of the testicle (one hundred and 

 sixty times enlarged), showing 

 the vascular tissue and the small 

 granules. 



Fig. 23. Anal part of the male eel, enlarged twice. 



a. Straight intestine. 



b. Fisstira rectovesicalis, covered by the 



outside wall of the seminal pouch. 

 cc. Outlet of the anterior and posterior part 



of the deferent canal in the pouch. 

 d. Urinary bladder. 



Of the 258 eels examined by me, the males and females were in about 

 even proportion; the greatest length of the former was about 430 milli- 

 meters, while the latter were of all sizes up to 1,050 millimeters, which 

 shows that the males are smaller than the females. 



