RECENT REPORTS OF FISHERY AUTHORITIES. 377 



the reproductive organs in specimens down to 8 inches. Below this size 

 the distinction is impossible. 



Froc;-mouthed Eels. — These are really the same as the yellow eels, 

 excepting that they are much larger and are all females. They are 

 large females, with ovaries as yet but little developed, and which have 

 not commenced to take on the breeding-dress. Their bodies are long 

 and lean, and they feed voraciously. The pectoral fins are light 

 coloured and rounded behind. The heads appear large in proportion to 

 the bodies, and possess the same characters as the heads of the yellow 

 eels in a more exaggerated form. These large, lean fish appear in 

 numbers at the beginning of summer, having probably been starving 

 during the winter. They are caught in large numbers on hooks baited 

 with fish, and their stomachs are often much dilated with food. Later 

 in the year they become less frequent, having become fat and taken on 

 the breeding-dress. 



Silver Eels. — These are yellow eels, which have assumed the 

 breeding-dress, and are about to migrate to the sea to breed. The 

 author has observed all transition stages between yellow and silver eels, 

 and yellow eels with commencing metallic lustre kept in caufs 

 he has frequently observed transformed in a few weeks into silver 

 eels. 



Silver eels are all of large size, and comprise both males and 

 females. No males have been found under 29 cm. (11|- inches) long, 

 and they are rare at this size. The smallest female observed was 

 42 cm. (lOh inches) long, but these also are seldom seen so small. The 

 bodies of the silver eels are plump and fat. The snout in front of the 

 eyes, particularly in the males, is high and a little compressed, probably 

 owing to the considerable development of the olfactory organs and an 

 increase in the size of the eyes. When the head is looked at vertically 

 from above, the eyes protrude beyond the lips, and face sideways or 

 outwards rather than, as in the yellow eels, upwards. The eyes are 

 also considerably larger than in yellow eels of the same length. This 

 was proved both by measuring and weighing eyes from the two kinds. 

 The colour of the back is dark, nearly black ; there are bronze streaks 

 at the sides, and the ventral side is silver-white with a metallic lustre. 

 The pectoral fins are dark coloured, even black, pointed behind, and 

 longer in proportion to the head than those of the yellow eels, which 

 are bright coloured and rounded. The skin of the body is thick and 

 firm, the outlines of the scales distinct, and the lateral line, with its 

 ramifications, easily seen. 



The silver eels do not feed much, and are seldom caught on hooks. 

 The digestive organs are comparatively much smaller than those of 

 yellow eels, as the author has proved by weighing them, whilst the 



