These and other observations, taken together with the 

 above-mentioned facts regarding the distribution of 

 leptocephalids lead us to conclude that the breeding- 

 place of eels is in depths somewhat greater than 500 

 fathoms in conditions where the temperature is above 

 42 Fahr. and the salinity above 35 per 1,000. 



This brief resume of the state of our knowledge 

 concerning the early history of the eel shows the impossi- 

 bility of utilizing methods of artificial propagation in 

 the case of this eel. To stock fish-ponds with eel-fry, 

 dependence must be placed upon the 'migration shore- 

 wards of the shoals of elvers, the colourless fry into 

 which the leptocephalid larvae change when a certain 

 age has been attained. These elvers when they first 

 arrive on the coast average 7 centimetres in length, 

 actually smaller than the leptocephalid larvae from which 

 they come ! 



Eels in the sedentary stage are carnivorous and 

 extremely voracious. They are most inimical to young- 

 fish of all species, but particularly to such as live near or 

 upon the bottom. Wherever fish of greater value than 

 eels are to be reared, it is necessary to keep them in 

 separate ponds. At Comacchio, smelts and crabs form 

 the chief food of captive eels, a diet which should be 

 duplicated without difficulty in Indian fish farms. 



Because of its rapid growth due largely to its indis- 

 criminate voracity and its ability to withstand great 

 variations of salinity, the eel is the most easily reared of 

 any species available for fish-farming in saline waters. 

 Precise data upon the rate of growth under definite 

 conditions are not available even in Europe, and, if they 

 were, it is probable that they would not be reliable guides 

 to that attained in Indian waters, where conditions are 

 usually more favourable. It may be mentioned however 

 that Coste, who was almost the first to give scientific 

 attention to the growth of fishes, stated that an eel fry 

 attains a weight of 2§ kilograms " within 4 or 5 years," 

 while Gobin is responsible for the statement that "a kilo 

 oi mdntee oi eel fry containing 3,600 individuals, attain 

 in three years a weight of 6,000 kilos and a value of 

 3,000 to 3,500 francs (Rs. 1,800 to Rs. 2,100).* 



* La Pisciculture en eaux salees, p. 212, Paris, 189 1. 



