Vol. XXVII. 



IQII 



1 Kershaw, Migration of Eels in Victoria. i<^j 



The fact that eels are to be found in more or less isolated 

 waters, far removed from, and not connected by any water- 

 course with, the sea is considered conclusive evidence that the 

 eels must breed in fresh waters. 



In earlier investigations it has been pointed out that some 

 individuals, unable, from some insurmountable cause, to leave 

 their environment, apparently spend their whole life in fresh 

 waters, but they are barren. It is recorded that a specimen 

 was kept in confinement in the family of the French naturalist 

 Desmarest for upwards of 40 years, growing to a length of 

 4J feet. 



Many of the keener observers have been much puzzled by 

 the fact that, although they have examined eels .at different 

 times of the year, they have never succeeded in finding one 

 carrying spawn, and some have, therefore, concluded that eels, 

 like some of our snakes, are viviparous. The discovery of 

 internal parasites in the eel has aided this belief. 



The fact is that the generative organs do not develop in 

 fresh water, but only in salt water. 



According to Professor Seeley, the immature eggs are only 

 one-tenth of a millimetre in diameter, and therefore microscopic. 



The males are to be distinguished from the female's by the 

 sharper form of the snout and their smaller size, rarely exceeding 

 15 inches in length. According to some authorities, they are 

 only found in brackish water and in the sea, and always precede 

 the females in their migration to the sea. 



In a paper read before this Club in July, 1905, Dr. T. S. Hall 

 contributed some interesting notes on the distribution and 

 means of dispersal of the fresh-water eel in this country. Some 

 further facts on the subject which have come to light may be 

 recorded. 



In the '' Nature Notes " column of the Argus of 21/7/05, 

 Mr. J. A. M' William, Geelong, says : — '' Nearly all the dams 

 and lakes within miles of the Hopkins and Emu Creek are full 

 of eels, and some of them have no defined watercourse to them ; 

 but if they overflow strongly in the early spring the eels \\'\\\ 

 find their way over the grass to them. I have found eels three 

 or four miles from permanent water, travelling over the grass 

 with only 2 inches or 3 inches of water. Lake Terang has eels 

 in it (or had a few years ago), and it has not run out since 1838 

 or 1839. • . . I fished the Emu Creek for years, and never 

 caught a really small one like those you get in the Barwon, 

 near the salt water — hundreds of them like sand- worms." 



In the same column for 25/10/07, Mr. C. W. Harrison, of 

 Ballarat, says : — " Some years ago, when Lake Burrumbeet 

 overflowed in the spring, several tons of eels escaped at the 

 outlet into Emu Creek, and from there, I suppose, to the sea. 



