74 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



between A. hostoniensis and A. vulgaris, as stated by him, consists 

 chieflj^ in the fact that the dorsal flu is sitnated a Uttle farther back 

 upon the body, so that in the former the distance between the com- 

 mencement of the dorsal and anal fin is shorter than the head, while in 

 the latter it is equal to or somewhat longer than it. This character does 

 not appear to be at all constant. 



III. Geographical distribution of the eel. 



"V^ e may therefore provisionally assume the specific identity of the eels 

 of the old and the new world, and define their distribution of the com- 

 mon eel somewhat as follows : In the rivers .and along the ocean shores 

 of Eastern North America, south to Texas and IMexico, and north at 

 least to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, but absent in the waters tributary 

 to Hudson Bay, the Arctic Sea, and the Pacific ; present in Southern 

 Greenland (?) and Iceland, latitude G5° north ; on the entire coast of 

 Norway, from the North Cape, latitude 71°, southward; abundant in 

 the Baltic and in the rivers of Eussia and Germany, which are its trib- 

 utaries, and along the entire western and Mediterranean coasts of 

 Europe, though not present in the Black Sea, in the Danube or any of 

 its other tributaries, or in the Caspian; occurring also off Japan and 

 China and Formosa ; also in various islands of the Atlantic, Grenada, 

 Dominica, the Bermudas, Madeira, and the Azores. 



IV. General note on habits. [Professor Baird.] 



The habits of the eel are very different from those of any other fish, 

 and are as yet but little understood. 



" This, so far as we know," writes Prof. Baird, '4s the only fish the 

 young of which ascend from the sea to attain maturity, instead of de- 

 scending from the fresh to the salt water. Its natural Li story has been 

 a matter of considerable inquiry within a few years, although even now 

 we are far from having that information concerning it that would be 

 desirable, in view of its enormous abundance and its great value as a 

 food fish. 



" The eggs of the eel are for the most part laid in the sea, and in 

 the early spring, the period varying with the latitude, the young fish 

 may be seen ascending the rivers in vast numbers, and when arrested 

 by an apparently impassable barrier, natural or artificial, they will leave 

 the water and make their way above the obstruction, in endeavoring to 

 reach the point at which they aim. Here they bury themselves in the 

 mud and feed on any kind of animal substance, the spawn offish, the roes 

 of shad, small fish, &c. At the end of their sojourn in the ponds or 

 streams they return to the sea, and are then captured in immense num- 

 bers in many rivers in what are called fish-baskets. A V-shaped fence 

 is made, with the opening down-stream into the basket, into which the 

 eels fall, and from which they cannot easily escape. This same device, 

 it may be incidentally stated, captures also great numbers of other fish, 



