80 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OP FISHERIES 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The occurrence of the eel around the periphery 

 of our Gulf can be described in the one word — "universal." From Cape Sable on 

 the east to Cape Cod on the west there is, we believe, not a single stream mouth, 

 muddy estuary, or tidal marsh into which fresh water empties but supports eels 

 to some extent. They run up every stream, large or small, from which they even- 

 tually find their way into the ponds at the headwaters unless barred by insurmount- 

 able barriers such as very high falls. Eels are even caught in certain ponds without 

 outlets. 



Habits. — Up to very recently the life history of the eel remained a mystery, 

 for although the fact that the young "elvers" run up into fresh water in spring 

 while adults journey downstream in autumn has been common knowledge for 

 centuries, and while a host of myths grew up to explain the utter absence of ripe 

 eels of either sex, either in fresh water or along the seacoast, it was not until a few 

 years ago that the riddle of its breeding place was solved. Now we know that 

 both the American and the European eel lives a life that is just the antithesis of 

 that of the salmon, shad, or alewife, and, thanks chiefly to the persevering re- 

 searches of the Danish scientist, Johannes Schmidt, the spawning grounds of both 

 eels have been discovered and the history of their larvje traced. 65 Briefly, the 

 life history of the eel is as follows: 



The young "elvers" appear along our shores in spring when they average 

 from 2 to 33^ inches in length. As yet we have little data on the exact date of 

 arrival, but they have been taken as early as March at Woods Hole and in April 

 in Passamaquoddy Bay. The fact that elvers run up the streams emptying into 

 Narragansett Bay from mid-April until mid-May, and that Welsh observed a 

 tremendous run in Little River, near Gloucester, on May 5, 1913, suggests that 

 they may be expected in the mouths of most Gulf of Maine streams late in spring. 

 In the Bay of Fundy region, however, probably owing to the dilatory warming of 

 the local streams, they are found ascending streams during the summer. The 

 run in one stream may last for a month or more, while it may last only for a few 

 days in another. Even at this early stage there is a noticeable habit of segregation, 

 some remaining in tidal marshes and other estuarine situations while many go into 

 fresh water, and some of them ascend the larger rivers for tremendous distances. 

 It is now generally believed that only the females run up above the head of tide — 

 that is, that any eel caught in fresh water is a female — but the evidence on which 

 this assumption rests is none too conclusive, especially in the case of the American 

 eels. 



It is no wonder that the ability of the elvers to surmount obstacles on their 

 journey upstream is proverbial, for they clamber over falls, up dams, etc., and 

 even work their way up over damp rocks as Welsh saw them doing in Little 

 River, where they were so plentiful on May 5 and 7, 1913, that he caught 1,500 



66 The life history of the eel is presented in more detail than is possible here by Schmidt (Philosophical Transactions, Royal 

 Society of London, Series B, Vol. CCXI, 1922 (1923), pp. 179-208, summarized in Nature, Vol. CX, July-December, 1922, 

 p. 716), and by Cunningham (Nature, Vol. CXIII, January-June, 1924, p. 199). See also Schmidt (Rapports et Proces-Verbaux, 

 Conseil Permanent International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Vol. V, No. 4, 1906, pp. 137-204. pis. 7-13), and for a popular exposi • 

 tion of the subject, Smith (National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XXIV, No. 10, October, 1913, p. 1140). 



