230 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



tion — Ma- 

 lacopteri. 



Classifica- of the various divisions and sub-divisions of the order, and 

 our limits will not permit us to do more than to notice a 

 few of the species that inhabit the British waters, or that 

 are otherwise interesting from some particulars in their 

 history or economy. 



In this order the forms of the teeth vary greatly. In a 

 few species they are mere grinding machines, in the majo- 

 rity, long, slender, and sharp for the retention of their prey ; 

 in others, they are variously lobed, fine-edged, cutting 

 instruments. On these different kinds of dentition, the 

 genera and minor groups are, in many instances, founded. 

 The arrangement of the entire sub-order is that of Dr 

 J. Kaup of Darmstadt, from whose catalogue, written for 

 the British Museum, we have borrowed it. 



Fig. 64. 



J/urtrna pavonina. 



The MuTfena Helena, or Romcui Murtena, abounds in the 

 Mediterranean, and was introduced by the luxurious Romans 

 of antiquity, in crystal vases, to the table before being 

 cooked, that the guests might admire its variegated skin. 

 This fish is very voracious, and feeds on all sorts of animal 

 matter. The Romans fed them in ponds, and Pliny has 

 recorded the atrocities of Vedius Pollio, who used to punish 

 his offending slaves by throwing them alive to his Miircena. 

 We have seen this fish repeatedly taken at Gibraltar, 

 between three and four feet in length. The skin is beauti- 

 fully marbled with yellow sub-angular markings on a rich 

 brown ground. Wlien captured in nets it lives long out of 

 the water, and is capable of biting very severely, from the 

 sharpness of its numerous teeth. 



A Murry is noticed in the narrative of Cook's Third 

 Voyage to the Pacific in these words : — " Amongst these 

 were some large eels, beautifully spotted, which, when fol- 

 lowed, would raise themselves out of the water, and endea- 

 vour, with open mouth, to bite their pursuers." 



Fig. 65. 

 Sidtra pantherina. 



The Anguiltidte are a family whose members exhibit 

 little variety of form, and it contains only a single genus. 

 From the conmion Eel, however, most of our ideas respect- 

 ing the Apodals have originated. Anguilla vulgaris. We 

 have observed these fish in considerable niuubers leaving 

 fresh-water lakes in the night time, and frequenting mea- 

 dows, seemingly for the purpose of preying on slugs and 

 snails. Tiiey easily move on the land, with a motion re- 

 sembling that of snakes. The Eel sjrows to the size of two 



or three feet, and is sometimes said to reach five or six feet Classifica- 

 in length. It abounds in many European rivers. Eels are tion— Ma- 

 caught in immense numbers in the rivers emptying them- 'acopteri. 

 selves into the Baltic ; and they form a considerable article **"^"v^^ 

 of trade. Two thousand are stated to have been caught at 

 one sweep in Jutland ; and in the Garonne 60,000 were 

 taken in one day by a single net. 



" That Eels migrate towards brackish water," observes 

 Mr Jesse, "in order to deposit their roe, I have but little 

 doubt, for the following reasons. From the month of 

 November imtil the entl of Jaiuiary, provided the frost is 

 not very serious. Eels migrate towards the sea. The Thames 

 fishermen are so aware of this fact, that they invariably set 

 their pots or baskets with their mouths up stream during 

 those months, while later in the spring and summer they 

 are set down stream. The best time, however, for taking 

 Eels, is during their passage towards the sea. The Eel-traps, 

 also, which are set in three different streams near Hampton 

 Court (the contents of wliich, at different times, I have had 

 opportunities of examining), have invariably been supplied 

 with Eels sufficiently large to be breeders, during the months 

 I have mentioned. This migi-atory disposition is not shown 

 by small Eels ; and it may therefore be assimied that they 

 remain nearly stationary till they are old enough to have 

 spawn. I have also ascertained that Eels are taken in 

 greater or lesser numbers during the months of November 

 or December, all the way down the river to the brackish 

 water. F'rom thence the yoimg Eels migrate, as soon as 

 they are sufficiently large and strong to encounter the 

 several currents of the river, and make their way to the 

 different contributary streams. I have also been able to 

 trace the procession of young Eels, or, as it is called here, 

 the Eel-fair, from the neighbourhood of Blackfriar's Bridge, 

 as far up the river as Chertsey, although they probably 

 make their way as far, or farther than Oxford. So strong, 

 indeed, is their migratory disposition, that it is well known 

 few things will prevent their progress, as, even at the locks 

 at Teddington and Hampton, the young Eels have been 

 seen to ascend the large posts of the flood-gates, in order 

 to make their way, when the gates have been shut longer 

 than usual. Those which die stick to the posts ; others, 

 which get a little higher, meet with the same fate, until at 

 last a sufficient layer of them is formed to enable the rest to 

 overcome the difficulty of the passage. A curious instance 

 of the means which young Eels will have recourse to, in 

 order to perform their migrations, is annually proved in the 

 neighbourhood of Bristol. Near that city there is a large 

 pond, inuuediately adjoining which is a stream. On the 

 bank between these t«o waters a large tree grows, the 

 branches of which hang into the pond. By means of these 

 branches, the young Eels ascend into the tree, and from 

 thence let themselves drop into the stream below, thus 

 migrating to far distant waters, where they increase in size, 

 and become useful and beneficial to man. A friend of 

 mine, who was a casual witness of this circumstance, in- 

 formed me that the tree appeared to be qviite alive with 

 these little animals. The rapid and unsteady motion of the 

 boughs did not appear to impede their progress." 



" AW authors agree," adds Mr Yarrell, " that Eels are 

 extremely averse to cold. There are no Eels in the Arctic 

 regions, none in the rivers of Siberia, the Wolga, the 

 Danube, or any of its tributary streams. It is said there 

 are no Eels in the Caspian or Black Seas, but they abound 

 in the Mediteri-anean ; and M. Risso has described eight 

 species in his work on the Natural Historij of the Environs 

 of yice. Tliere is no doubt, also, that fishes in general, 

 and Eels more particularly, are able to appreciate even 

 minute alterations of teniperat\n-e in the water they inhabit. 

 The brackish water they seek to remain in during the 

 colder months of the year, is of a higher temperature than 

 that of the pure fresh water of the river, or that of the sea. 



