Jordan and Evermann. — Fishes of North America. 347 



150. ANGUILLA, Shaw. 

 (Eels.) 



AnguiUa, SnAW, General Zoiilogy, iv, 15, 1804, (atiguilla). 



Miiriena, BLF.EKEn, PoEY, etc., (taking as type 3Ii<rse)ia augvilla, the first speoieB mentioned by 

 ArtebI under 3[urirna). 



Body elongate, compressed behind, covered with embedded scales 

 which are linear in form and placed obliquely, some of them at right 

 angles to others. Lateral line well developed. Head long, conical, 

 moderately pointed, the rather small eje well forward and over the angle 

 of the mouth. Teeth small, subequal, in bands on each jaw and a long 

 patch on the vomer. Tongue free at tip. Lips rather full, with a free 

 margin behind, attached by a freuum iu front. Lower jaw projecting. 

 Gill openings rather small, slit-like, about as wide as base of pectorals 

 and partly below them. Nostrils superior, well separated, the anterior 

 with a slight tube. Vent close in front of anal. Dorsal inserted at 

 some distance from the head, confluent with the anal around the tail. 

 Pectorals well developed. Species found in most warm seas, (the eastern 

 Pacific excepted), ascending streams, but mostly spawning in the sea. 

 The eels often move for a considerable distance on land, in damp grass. 

 Waterfalls, dams, and other obstructions are often passed in this way. 

 It is thought that the eel spawns only in the sea, the female dying after 

 having once produced ova. The females are larger than the males, paler 

 in color, with smaller eyes and higher fins. Eels are among the most 

 voracious of fishes. " On their hunting excursions, they overturn alike 

 huge and small stones, beneath which they find species of shrimp and 

 crayfish, of which they are excessively fond. Their noses are poked into 

 every imaginable hole in their search for food, to the terror of innumera- 

 ble small fishes." (W. H. Ballou.) The single American species differs* 

 slightly from the European AnguiUa aiigidlla (Linnaeus), (anguilla, the 

 eel.) 



*As is shown in the following analysis: 

 a. Distance between origin of dorsal and vent g to 1}^ in head ; pectoral 3 to 3% in head ; 

 head 2j to 2J in trunk; upper jaw 3% to 4J^ in head. Yellow, brown, or black, 

 underparts paler. anguilla. 



aa. Distance between origin of dorsal and vent IJ to 2 in head ; pectoral 2| to 3| iu head ; 

 head 2 to 2}^ in trunk: body more robust and trunk slightly shorter than in 

 ajiguilla, otherwise similar. CHRTSVPA, 568. 



Dr. Giinther states that a specimen of the European eel from Kew Jersey is in the Liver- 

 pool Museum. There is no ether American record, and this must be regarded as very 

 questionable. 



Dr. Seth E. Meek, (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1883, 430), after a careful comparison of American 

 anil European eels, concludes that " in American specimens the dorsal fin is proportionately 

 farther from the end of snout, making the distance between front of dorsal and front of anal a 

 little shorter than in European siiecimens. Otherwise no permanent dilTerence seems to exist. 

 We should not, therefore, iu my opinion, consider the two as distinct species, but rather as 

 geographical varieties of the same species." 



In A. chryniijia, according to Dr. Meek, the distance from tip of snout to front of dorsal is, on 

 an average, .33'2 of the length; the distance from front of dorsal to front of anal, .Oi)';J^, or 

 less than length of head, (.12j^). 



In the European AnguiUa anguilla the first distance is .30^, the secoud, .13-.;. or a little more 

 than length of bead (.13J). Cuban specimens, (Anguilla cuhana, Kaup), agree fully with A. 

 chrysypa, as also Texau ones {Anguilla '^lyranims" or "/exaim"). Probably our eel should be 

 regarded as a subspecies, (chrysypa), of A. anguilla. 



