286 THE LARVA OF THE EEL. 
singularly few specimens were collected during the expedition, and 
these throw no new light on the question of origin. Six specimens 
obtained in mid-Atlantic belong to the form which has received 
the name pellucidus and other names. These other names are those 
associated by Grassi with Congromurena mystax. One specimen 
‘obtained on the west coast of Africa at the surface belonged to the 
form LZ. Morrisii. Another, from a station near the Admiralty 
Islands, belonged to the form L. tenia. Lastly, a specimen from the 
North Atlantic had the characters of L. brevirostris. It is much to 
be regretted that no further description or any figures are given. 
If the comparisons are correct, it would follow that the larva of 
both the common conger and common eel were taken in the open 
Atlantic in a pelagic condition. 
A. Agassiz remarks in Three Cruises of the ‘ Blake,’ vol. i, 
p. 121, that we may trace the northern course of the Gulf Stream 
by the presence of Sargassum, Porpita, Leptocephali, &c., which 
are carried each year to the coast of Southern New England. 
It seems evident that in tropical regions of the ocean truly 
pelagic Leptocephali are of constant occurrence and fairly abun- 
dant. It will probably be found that these are the larvee of species 
of Murzenidee other than those whose larve have been traced by 
the Sicilian naturalists. But in the present state of our knowledge 
it seems impossible to distinguish satisfactorily the oceanic pelagic 
forms from those of the Mediterranean, or from those which are not 
pelagic. Thus Grassi and Calandruccio suggest that DL. tenia is 
the larva of species of Sphagebranchus, of which species occur both 
in the Mediterranean and the Hast Indies. But the names txnia, margi- 
natus, lineo-punctatus, and capensis are grouped together by Giinther 
as applying to much-elongated forms which appear to have been 
taken at the surface of the open ocean: some specimens reach a 
length of 25 cm., or nearly 10 inches. The specimens named JL. 
tenia by Kaup came from India and the Maldive Islands, but we 
are not told whether they were pelagic ; probably they were. If so, 
the question arises whether the form called L. tenia by the 
Sicilians is also truly pelagic, or if it belongs to a different species. 
It would scarcely be profitable to pursue these speculations further. 
What has been said is sufficient to suggest strongly that the 
characters and history of the Leptocephali still offer a most promis- 
ing field of study and investigation, alike in the Mediterranean, in 
the tropics, and on our own coasts. It is much to be hoped that Drs, 
Grassi and Calandruccio will publish a complete account of their 
observations with satisfactory figures, in order to satisfy the interest 
and curiosity excited by their preliminary communications. It is 
worthy of remark that there is some similarity between the cases of 
