158 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



numbers are brought to market from the mouths of the neigh- 

 boring rivers, upon the muddy bottoms of which they live, 

 and meet with a ready sale ; so great even, is sometimes the 

 demand in winter, that it cannot be answered. At this Season 

 it is speared ; holes having been cut through the ice for the 

 purpose. The markets are usually supplied in spring from 

 the rivers, where they are now taken in nets. At Medford, 

 nets are stretched across the river, having in their middle a 

 large bag capable of containing from fifteen to twenty bushels ; 

 as the eels are going up or down the river, they are thus 

 caught, and are kept alive for the supply of the market in large 

 ditches, excavated near the river, which are supplied by the 

 tide with water. About 3000 pounds are yearly taken at 

 Watertown. Those taken in summer when able to procure 

 the " Brit" and other fishes upon which they feed, are much 

 larger and richer, weighing from one to nine pounds. 



M. argentea. Le Sueur. The Silver Eel. 

 Journal Academy Nat. Sciences, vol. i. p. 83. 



From Dr. Yale I have received two specimens of a u Murae- 

 na," which answers in all important particulars to the " ar- 

 gentea." Its general color is silvery gray, darker upon its upper 

 portion, with a clear satiny white abdomen. The spiracles 

 are as long as the base of the pectorals. This species is taken 

 in pots in October, when it leaves the ponds, and seldom at 

 other times. At Holmes Hole, it is called " Neshaw eel." 



The following description of a specimen of each species, 

 will show their different proportions. The specimens were 

 each twenty-three inches in length : 



M. Bostoniensis. From the tip of the snout to the base 

 of the pectorals, eight inches ; body back of the head, at the 

 commencement of the pectorals, three inches and five lines in 

 circumference ; three inches and two lines around the head, 

 at the distance of an inch and a half from the snout ; circum- 

 ference of the head in front of the eyes, one inch seven lines 



