172 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



liabits are unknown, but it is supposed that spawning takes 

 place late in the fall or during the winter near the mouths of 

 rivers on muddy bottoms. Dr Jordan has expressed the belief 

 that the eel sometimes breeds in fresh water, since he has 

 found young eels less than an inch long in the headwaters of 

 the Alabama river, about 500 miles from the sea. It is esti- 

 mated that a large eel contains about 9,000,000 eggs. The eggs 

 are very small, measuring about 80 to the inch, and can scarcely 

 be seen by the naked eye. 



The difference of size in the sexes has already been referred 

 to. According to one writer the males are much smaller than 

 the females, rarely exceeding 15 or 16 inches in length. The 

 question whether eels will breed in fresh water has an impor- 

 tant bearing on their introduction into places from which they 

 can not reach the sea. The generall}' accepted belief is that, 

 while the eels will grow large and fat, they will not reproduce 

 under such circumstances. 



When the eels meet obstructions in streams, they will leave 

 the water and travel through wet grass or over moist rocks. 

 They have not been able to surmount the falls of Niagara. At 

 the foot of this barrier hundreds of wagon loads of young eels 

 have been seen crawling over the rocks in their efforts to reach 

 the upper waters. 



Dr Mitchill heard of an eel, which was caught in one of the 

 south bays of Long Island, that weighed 16| pounds. He 

 records the use of eelpots and the practice of bobbing, and also 

 the winter fishing by spearing. Dr Mitchill states distinctly that 

 the ovaries of eels may be seen like those of other fish, but they 

 are often mistaken for masses of fat. Dr DeKay states that he 

 had examined the silver eel of the fishermen and was disposed 

 to consider it only a variety of the common eel. He charac- 

 terizes it as '' silvery gray above, with a clear, satiny white 

 abdomen, separated from the color above by the lateral line." 

 We found eels moderatelv common in Great South bav late in 

 September. At Bellport thousands of eelpots are employed, 

 and these are fastened to stakes which are set in straight lines 



