BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 75 



such as shad, salmon, and other anadroinoiis fish, to their grievous 

 destruction. 



"As might be expected, however, the Falls of Niagara constitute an 

 impassable barrier to their ascent. The fish is very abundant in Lake 

 Ontario, and until artificiallj" introduced was unknown in Lake Erie. 

 At the present time, in the sirring and summer, the visitor who enters 

 under the sheet of water at the foot of the falls will be astonished at 

 the enormous numbers of young eels crawling over the slippery 

 rocks and squirming in the seething whirlpools. An estimate of hun- 

 dreds of wagon-loads, as seen in the course of the perilous journey re- 

 ferred to, would hardly be considered excessive by those who have vis- 

 ited the si)ot at a suitable season of the year. 



The economical value of the eel as a lood fish has been well established, 

 and it is now greatly sought after for introduction into the localities where, 

 for some physical or other reason, it is unknown. The advantages, as 

 summed uj) by a German writer, are, first, that an eel will live and grow 

 in any water, however warm, and whatever be the general character of 

 the bottom, though it prefers the latter when muddy and boggy ; second, 

 the eel requires no special food, but devours any thing, living or dead 5 

 it is an excellent scavenger, feeding upon dead fish, crabs, etc., as well as 

 upon any living prey it can secure ; third, but few conditions can inter- 

 fere with its development, while it grows with very great rapidity, being 

 marketable at the age of three years ; fourth, the young, on account of 

 their hardiness, can be transported in a crowded condition, and to any 

 distance, with very little risk of destruction. These considerations are, 

 in the main, well established, and there is no question but that the eel 

 can be introduced in many waters to advantage, supplementing the 

 earlier inhabitants. It has been planted in the waters of the upper 

 lakes and the Mississippi River ; in the latter they have reached an ad- 

 vanced development. It is, however, a very undesirable inmate of rivers 

 in which fish are taken by means of gill-nets, the destruction of shad 

 and herring in the waters of the Susquehanna and others further south 

 being enormous. It is not unfreqnent that when a gill-net is hauled up, 

 the greater part of the catch consists simply of heads and backbones, 

 the remainder beicg devoured by myriads of eels in the short time the 

 net is left out. The spawning shad are considered by them a special 

 delicacy, and are found emi)tied at the vent and completely gutted of 

 the ovaries. Sometimes a shad, apparently full, is found to contain 

 several eels of considerable size. They do not seem to be very destruc- 

 tive of living fish of any magnitude, although the young fry are devoured 

 with gusto."* 



y. Introduction of eels into new waters in the United 



States. 



In describing the geographical distribution of the eel it was stated 

 that it occurs in the rivers and along the ocean shores of North America. 



* MS. note by Professor Eaircl. 



