THE CONGER EEL 179 



to find ready acceptance, though most of these fables related, 

 it is true, to the river, and not to the marine, eel. 



Only within the last five-and-twenty years was there even 

 a beginning of the solution of the conger's life-history, and we 

 are even now far from the whole truth. Indeed, when it is 

 stated that we do not yet know the egg of either eel or conger, 

 whether it floats or sinks, where it is deposited, and whereabouts 

 the larval forms undergo their development, it may be thought 

 that we know practically nothing of conger growth from the 

 first stage. While, however, our knowledge is still extremely 

 limited, we are yet considerably in advance of the last 

 generation. 



Three years stand out as important dates in the recent 

 history of our knowledge of eel life. In 1880 the male conger 

 was first identified by the Director of the Berlin Aquarium, 

 Dr. Hermes. It is, as has been shown, much smaller than the 

 female, and Cunningham regards it as also far inferior in point 

 of numbers. This is not exactly proven, though there is strong 

 reason for accepting his view. On the one hand, we know that 

 no male conger is over 30 in. in extreme length, and the pre- 

 ponderance of congers longer than 30 in. which are caught by 

 both hook and trawl is beyond question. Further, he shows 

 that among a series of examples measuring under 30 in. only 

 about one-third were of the male sex. This, if the series were 

 representative of the proportions in nature, would argue in 

 favour of an overwhelming preponderance of female fish. On 

 the other hand, it must not be forgotten that the series might 

 inaccurately represent the true proportions of the sexes, and 

 also that, as regards the preponderance of female conger in 

 the markets, it is natural that the larger sex would be more 

 frequently taken in the trawl, as also on the hook. 



A more important date in this connection, perhaps, than 

 1880 was t886, when Professor Delage, of Roscofi^, observed 

 the transformation from the \z.rvA{orm(^Leptocephalus tmrrisii) 

 to the perfect conger ; while five or six years later, in 1891 or 



