53. ANGUILLIDiE — ANGUILLA. 
361 
irS.— ANGUaLtA Thunberg. 
Eels. 
(Thunberg, Nouv. M6m. Stockb. about 1791: type Murcena anguilla L.) 
Body elongate, compressed behind, covered with imbedded scales, 
which are linear in form, and placed obliquely, some of them at 
right angles to others. Lateral line well developed. Head long con- 
ical, moderately pointed, the rather small eye well forward and over 
the angle of the mouth. Teeth small, subeqnal, 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 frenum in 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 numerous, in most warm 
seas, ascending streams, but mostly spawning in the sea. (Latin, angu- 
illa, an eel.) ^ 
587. A. rostrata* (Le Sueur) Dekay. — Common Eel. 
Brown, nearly plain, often tinged with yellowish; paler below. Dis- 
tance from snout to dorsal about one-third the length. Distance between 
anal and front of dorsal about equal to the length of the head. Head 
in length, in distance from gills to vent. Pectoral shorter than 
mandible. L. 50 inches. Atlantic coast of the United States ; very 
abundant from Maine to Mexico; ascending all streams and resident 
throughout the Mississippi Valley. Also recorded from China. 
{Murama rostrata and hostoniensis Le Sueur, Journ^Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila. i, 81: An- 
guilla bostoniensis Giintber, vii, 31. Var. ? texana Kaup, from tbe Gulf of Mexico is 
cbaracterized by its thicker lips: Anguilla texana Kaup, Apodal Fisb. 45: Anguilla 
tyrannus Grd. U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. Icbtb. 75.) 
* Another species has been accredited to our coast, viz : 
A. vulgaris Eaf. — European Eel. Distance from snont to dorsal 3f in length. 
Distance from front of anal to front of dorsal, about a third longer than tbe bead. 
Head 9;J^ in length. Pectoral about as long as tbe mandible. Vertebrae 45-f-70. Coasts 
of Europe, perhaps straying to our coasts. “ I have examined <an example from New 
Jersey; it is in the Liverpool Museum (Giinther).” 
(Murwna anguilla L. Syst. Nat. ; Rafinesque, Indice d’Ittiol. Sicil. 1810, 37 ; Turton, 
Brit. Fauna, 87; Giintber, viii, 28: Anguilla acuiirostris Risao, Eur. Merid. iii, 198.) 
