264 MALACOP. APODES. EEL FAMILY. 



although frequently found in the mouths of rivers, 

 which it is alleged to frequent for the purpose of 

 feeding on the fish that ascend or descend the 

 stream. Of these it devours a large quantity, as 

 well as crabs and shell-fish, the strength of its jaws 

 enabling it to comminute very hard substances. The 

 smaller kinds of fish it swallows almost entire : in 

 the stomach of one brought to the Edinburgh mar- 

 ket in 1834, no fewer than sixty-eight spirlings 

 were found, and these were so fresh and uninjured, 

 that they were afterwards exposed to sale, and soon 

 obtained a purchaser.* The gigantic palinuri, or 

 spiny lobsters of the Mediterranean, are said to 

 enter into combat occasionally with the Conger, 

 and generally come off victorious by tearing the fish 

 with their claws. The season for spawning is De- 

 cember or January, and young fish, about the 

 thickness of a man's finger, may be seen in rocky 

 places close to the shore, during the summer. Al- 

 though the flesh cannot be spoken of with high 

 commendation, this does not prevent it being much 

 used for food. The rich feeding- ground in the Firth 

 of Forth between Alloa and Stirling produces a 

 considerable number of Congers, whence they are 

 often brought to the Edinburgh market, where one 

 four feet long is sold for about a shilling or eighteen- 

 pence. They are often dried, and in that state 

 exported, principally to Spain. The most profitable 

 fishery for Congers is on the Cornish coast, where, 

 according to Mr. Couch, it is not uncommon for a 

 * Parnell's Fishes of the Firth of Forth, p. 389. 



