ie COMMON Te Ee 
(Anguilla vulgaris) 
Tue eel has a wide distribution and, wherever there is water, is 
found all over Great Britain. Some say there is more than one 
species, as one has a sharp nose and another a broad nose. 
Professor Grassi explains this by stating that the sharp-nosed eels 
are the males and the broad-nosed ones the females and immature 
males. According to Professor Grassi, the eel does not arrive at 
maturity until it is five or six years old. If this is the case there must 
be a very great difference in the weight of eels of the same age, 
because many of them migrate when under 1 Ib. in weight, while 
others are from 1 to 6 and even 8 lbs. 
The eel fisheries of Ireland are of considerable value, one bringing 
a rental of over £2000. Where food is plentiful eels grow to a large 
size. In Loch Leven they often weigh 6 or 7 lbs., and I have known 
them to exceed this weight in the river Tay. If they are prevented 
from going to the sea they live toa good old age. I know of one 
in a small pond which looked quite 10 lbs. ten years ago, and is 
still alive and manages to frustrate all attempts to capture it. The 
pond in which it lives contains small perch and the largest minnows 
I have ever seen. 
The eel fry come up all our rivers in countless thousands, 
distributing themselves over every stream and loch in Great Britain. 
They appear in the Tay about the 20th of April, when both sides of 
the river to the width of about 10 yards are crowded with them. In 
their movement upwards on a quiet day they make a ripple like that 
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