REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONGER. 31 



if the sexes were approximately equal in number we should find the 

 males more numerous than the females among the specimens under 

 2 feet 6 inches. 



Another important conclusion I have drawn from my observations 

 is that each conger only breeds once in its lifetime, or, in other 

 words, that every specimen whether male or female dies after 

 shedding its milt or ova. With regard to the males, I have shown 

 that nothing is easier than to obtain them in the sexually ripe con- 

 dition by keeping them in an aquarium until they ripen. Of the 

 ripe males which I have had in captivity three have died. I never 

 took out a dead male from the aquarium which was not ripe. Both 

 males and females are very hardy, and during the time I have 

 observed them in our aquarium only one specimen has died, except- 

 ing ripe males and females. The other ripe males which I had in 

 1890 were lost in the attempt to keep them in a box at the bottom 

 of the sea. It may, of course, be argued that if the females were 

 in natural conditions, and were able to extrude their ripe ova, they 

 w^ould again commence to feed and then breed again. We know 

 that a considerable proportion of other animals die after breeding 

 in consequence of exhaustion, although normally they produce young 

 or eggs a great many times in succession. But, on the other 

 hand, if the conger were able to recover in its normal free state in 

 the sea, it is extremely unlikely that it would die so invariably in 

 captivity, after attaining sexual maturity, especially considering that 

 while its sexual organs are immature it is one of the hardiest, 

 healthiest, and most voracious fishes in the aquarium. 



Another objection which may be urged is the gi'eat variation in 

 size among adult female conger. One of the gravid specimens which 

 died in our aquarium was only 4 feet 5^ inches long, and just over 

 16 lbs. in weight, while the largest of those I have recorded was only 

 5 feet 4 inches long, and 33 lbs. 8 oz. in weight. And yet specimens 

 are caught at sea which are much larger than this. Day, in his Fishes 

 of Great Britain and Ireland, mentions one 6^ feet long, weighing 

 53 lbs., others weighing 84 lbs., 100 lbs., 104 lbs., and 1 12 lbs., and 

 one measuring 8 feet 3 inches, and weighing 128 lbs. But this by no 

 means invalidates my conclusion, for fishes of the same age vary 

 wonderfully in size, as I know from flounders of the same age which 

 I have myself reared in our aquarium. It is probable enough that 

 the age at which in the female conger feeding and growth ceases, 

 and the maturation of the ova begins, may vary in different indi- 

 viduals. It is also all but certain that females of the same age will 

 reach very different sizes, some obtaining more food than others ; 

 even where the same supply of food exists, some probably are less 

 voracious, and have less power of assimilation than others. Butter- 



