12 



liiiinlcil mit liy tln' la^onn-lislicriiRMi. vi/., (liiit tlic yellow cfls ail sa »mcJi : 

 for in tiji.s they di.stiiigui.sli tliemsolvcs t'rojii the silver eds, and it is snch 

 iui important tliiiig tiiat it lias a great influence ou tlie digestive organs of 

 the eel, and through those on its wliole onter appearunce. — It lias been men- 

 tioncd ah'eady tliat tiie yellow eels ean l»e caught on hooks. Imt tliat the 

 silver ecls comjiaratively rarely are canght on theni; already this faet tells 

 of a different appetite in the t\vo iorms. When inauy thousand hooks, baitcd 

 willi living small Hsh or dead stieklehaeks, jiieces of various tishes, jirawns 

 (Fnlff')iion), shrinips (Craii(io)i). or wornis. are set out daily (or rather 

 nightly) and the 3'ellow eels ahvays form the great majority of the eateh, 

 this must be explaiued l)y the nuich greater voracity of the yellow eels, a 

 faet whieh is fully borne out when we examine the coutents of the sto- 

 maehs of eels whieh have been caught in other ways; the silver eels gene- 

 rally uontain nothing, Ihough it may happen, particularly when the eel has 

 perhaifs not quite Hnished the change of its dress. When it is migrating, 

 anil in its full, eliaracteristic dress, I never saw any food in its stomach. 

 The yellow eels, on the other band, eun often be so eranimed with food. 

 cousistiug of small tish, or (when they are younger) little snails, erustacea, 

 annelida etc. that their stomachs are dilated so much tliat they ure ipiite 

 shapeless. This however is seen only in the warnier season; in winter the 

 eels do not eat so much. — 



Wc can also directly see that the digestive organs of tbe yellow ecls 

 work powerfully; for they take up much more room than in the silvereels, 

 even tliough the stoma.eh and intestiues are empty of food. Tbis slight size 

 of the liver, stomach, and intestiues in the silver eels niakes tbe eels feel hard. 

 they are more difheult to hold, and the anus is never dilated but 

 »closed« as tbe tishermen say. — The following table of weighings is 

 given, ]iartly to ])oint out this shi'inking of the digestive organs of the 

 silver eels, and partly to show that tbe sexual organs on tbe other band 

 (particularly tbe ovaries) are somewbat stronger developed in the silver eels 

 tlian in tbe yellow ones. 



Yellow males. 



Tcihil wfight. Digrst ivr organs .SfXiuilurgiius. 



aiiil air liliulilcr. 



125 gram. c. 10 gram. l.essthaa 1 griuu. 



110 - ■ 10 - - 1 — 



90 - • 7„ - - - 1 - 



