REPRODUCTIOM AND DEVELOPMENT OP THE CONGER. 21 



vesicle in the centre^ and they are irregularly distributed through- 

 out the fat-tissue which makes up the greater part of the bulk of 

 the ovary. The conger from which the figure was taken was 5 feet 

 3 inches long-^ 24-|- lbs. in weight, and captured and killed on 

 October 6th. Fig. 2 shows a portion of a lamella of the ovary of 

 an eel 22 inches long killed December 10th ; the ova here were 

 •14 mm. in diameter. Fig. 2 is from a more highly magnified image 

 than fig. 1, and the ova are also somewhat more developed. 



Pig. 2. — Portiou of lamella from immature ovary of common eel. 



The aquarium of the Plymouth Laboratory was filled with sea- 

 water and ready for use by June 30th, 1888. Before this time, as 

 appears from the above observations, I had not succeeded in pro- 

 curing ripe conger, either males or females, from the fishermen, and 

 I hoped to obtain more light on the subject of the reproduction of 

 the species by keeping specimens in captivity. 



Very soon after the aquarium was in working order several living 

 conger, some large some small, were placed in it, and they throve 

 well, feeding voraciously on squid [Loligo] and pilchard, and some 

 of them growing considerably. 



The first interesting result I obtained from the aquarium was 

 the discovery of a perfectly ripe male on December 13th. My 

 notice was attracted to this specimen in a tank by its peculiar 

 appearance. It was quite a small specimen and somewhat thin ; 

 the peculiarities about it were its large prominent eyes and short 

 broad snout. The eyes were so large in proportion to the head 

 that their upper edges projectly slightly above the dorsal surface of 

 the skull, and that surface between the eyes was quite depressed 

 and hollow. Before seeing this specimen I had not noticed any 



