92 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Along the banks there shoukl be pits for hiding-places, and for the 

 same purpose there should be near the banks roots of trees, stones, «&c. 

 The steeper the banks of the ponds the less chance will there be for the 

 eels to escape. All channels, either of influx or outflow, should be 

 stopped up, so that the eels cannot escape. Care should be taken that 

 the ponds are never exposed to the danger of inundation. 



In this kind of pond eels measuring 2^ to 3 inches in length may be 

 placed, or better yet, eels measuring 8 to 15 inches. These latter are 

 better able to seek their own food, to resist the changes of the weather, 

 and to escape from their enemies. When eels are placed in these ponds 

 in April or May, from 200 to 300 of the smaller size should be counted 

 to an acre of pond area. If the eels are G inches long, 50 to 100 should 

 be put into the pond, and of the largest size 25 to 50 per acre. 



Many of the young eels placed in a pond are of course lost; some 

 escape, others die, and some are devoured by other fish, frogs, and 

 other aquatic animals; so that one may count on 25 to 30 per cent of 

 the smallest eels (from 2J to 3 inches) reaching a marketable size; 40 to 

 50 per cent of the larger (6 inches); and 70 to 80 per cent of the largest. 

 Two thousand young eels weigh about one pound. 



In these ponds there should be i^laced the year after the large eels 

 have been ])ut in, or two years after small eels, a number of shell-fish, 

 say 10 to 15 to every 100 eels. When these begin to propagate, the 

 eggs and the young are an excellent food for the eels. 



lu spring the eels begin to get hungry, and it will be found an advan- 

 tage to put into the i)onds artificial food, such as manure, or a carcass in 

 a basket, so that larvae and worms may develop. There may also be a 

 ditch or pit at the bottom of the i)ond, at one end of which there is 

 placed a wooden box (6 to 10 feet long, 1^ to 2 feet broad and deep) in 

 which the food may be placed. If there is enough food in the ponds, 

 the eels will increase in weight 2 pounds apiece in one year. If eels 

 are placed in good growing i)ouds for carp, the yield of these ponds 

 may be increased very considerably. 



31.— ON THE IIVTKAOVARIAIV GESTATEON OF THE BEDFISII 



(8E1SA8TES ITIARIIVUS). 



By JOHW A. KYDER. 



It has been known for a long time that certain species of Sehastes 

 were viviparous. During July last female specimens of S. marinus 

 taken by the steamer Albatross off the Banks were found with the 

 ovaries in a gravid condition, but with the embryos in an advanced 

 state of development. These were so far developed as to show all of 

 the features of the end of the lophocercal stage when the median fin 

 folds already contain actinotrichia. Estimating the number roughly, 

 fully one thousand embryos were contained in each ovarian sack. 



