FISHES OF NEW YORK 175 



102 Leptocephalus conger (Linnaeus) 

 Conger Eel; Sea Eel 



Muraena conger Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. X, I, 245, 1758. 



Anguilla conger Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 360, 1815. 



Anguilla oceanica Mitchill, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. I, 407, 1818, off New 

 York. 



Conger occidentalis De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 314, pi. 53, fig. 172, 1842, 

 very poor. 



Conger vulgaris Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. VIII, 88, 1870, 



Conger niger Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 362, 1883. 



Leptocephalus conger Goode, Fish & Fish. Ind. U. S. I, pi. 240, 1884; Jor- 

 dan & EvERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 354, 1896, pi. LVII, fig. 

 148, 1900; Smith, Bull. U. S. F. C. XVII, 90, 1898. 



Dorsal fln begins opposite to or just behind tip of pectoral; 

 eye one and one half in snout, five to six in head; snout three 

 and one fourth to four and one fourth in head; gape extending 

 nearly or quite to belovi^ hind margin of eye; head one and 

 four fifths to one and six sevenths in trunk; tail longer than rest 

 of body; pectorals three and one half in head; upper lip full, 

 with cons}3icuous pores. Length of head one ninth of total 

 length, depth of body two fifths length of head. Pores in lateral 

 line very conspicuous. Color dark olive brown, sometimes 

 nearl}^ black, above; chin, space behind pectorals and lower parts 

 soiled white. 



The conger eel occurs on both coasts of the Atlantic, on our 

 coast extending from Cape Cod to Brazil, but not often coming 

 into shallow bays. An exception is noted in Great Egg Harbor 

 bay, where the fish is not rare in summer. It is sometimes 

 caught in Gravesend bay also in summer, and occasional indi- 

 viduals are captured on hand lines off Southampton L. I., by men 

 fishing for sea bass and scup. The fishermen dislike to handle 

 the species on account of its pugnacity and strength; it snaps 

 viciousl}^ at everything near it when captured in our waters; 

 yet, strangely enough, the writer has seen a hundred or more, 

 taken on trawl lines off the north coast of France, in a boat at 

 one time, and not one gave evidence of ferocit}'. 



In captivity in the aquarium the sea eel suffers severely from 

 fungus attacks, which are not relieved by changing the fish from 

 salt water to fresh. Perhaps the salinity of the water in some 



