110 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



males, whose period of migration is somewbat remote. This circum- 

 stance is a cause of much difficulty to the investigator.* 



"The studies on the second point to be solved were of special interest, 

 "vdz, the determination of the presence at Comacchio, and the behavior 

 of eels with organs of Syrski. I can answer this question very briefly, 

 since among 1,200 specimens examined by me at the fishing stations and 

 at the so-called eel-factories (with the exception of the largest specimens, 

 which are always females), I found on an average of five per cent, with the 

 organ of Syrski; of the eels under 15 inches in length (45 centimeters) 

 on an average there were 20 per cent., so that the conclusions as to 

 their abundance were very similar to those at Trieste, where the fish 

 market is supplied, for the greater part, with eels from Chioggia, and 

 to a less extent with those from Comacchio. 



' ' In Comacchio the largest eels with the organ of Syrski, which I 

 have observed, were about 17 inches (48 centimeters) iu length, the small- 

 est about 9 inches (24 centimeters). All of these were foimdjimong the 

 eels taken during their migration to the sea, and, like the females, were 

 found with stomachs completely empty or slightly filled with a slimy 

 substance. It was impossible to find in any specimen a more advanced 

 deveolpment of the Syrskian organ than in those examined in summer at 

 Trieste. 



" With reference to the third question undertaken by me, which relates 

 to the actual kernel of the eel question, that is, the j)ossibility of obtain- 

 ing the eels which have migrated out to sea, in order to obtain in 

 this manner the sexually mature milters and si)awners, I have been 

 unable to obtain any results. I have, so far as my opportunities per- 

 mitted, left no stone unturned to gain its solution. I went out to sea 



* It has been noticed by many early writers that there are certain eels which never 

 come to the sea — Risso, iu his " Histoire Naturelle," tome 3, p. 198, and S. Nilsson, 

 in his ' ' Scandiuavisk Fauna," tome 4, i). CGo. The latter called this variety ' ' Grasaal," 

 or grass-eel, and spoke of its yellowish- green coloration and the soft, delicious flesh. 

 Strange enough, both these writers spoke of the sharper snout of this eel, and Risso, 

 who founded upon it another species, Anguila acutirostris, described it as blackish above 

 and silvery below. These descriptions apply in every particular to the non-migratory 

 eel of Comacchio. Jacoby remarks that all the sterile females brought to him under 

 the name " Pasciuti," were distinguished by their broad snouts. The following tables 

 were prepared at Comacchio. a gives the total length of the body of the eel ; b, the 

 breadth of the snout between the nasal tubes, in millimeters. 



