THE EEL 153 



of species, most of which are inhabitants of the 

 deep sea, the genus of the Common Eel {Afiguilld) 

 differing from the majority in that its members 

 pass the greater part of their Hfe in fresh water or 

 in shallow water near the shore, and only revert 

 to their original habitat in the depths of the sea 

 for the purpose of breeding. 



The Eel {Anguilla angtiilla or A. vulgaris) has 

 the body long and subcylindrical, covered with 

 small oblong scales embedded in the slimy skin 

 and arranged in little groups, which are placed 

 obliquely and at right angles to each other ; the 

 mouth is terminal, furnished with bands of 

 pointed teeth in the jaws and on the vomer ; the 

 small gill-openings are placed just in front of the 

 pectoral fins ; the dorsal and anal fins are long 

 and confluent with the caudal ; the first - named 

 commences at some distance behind the head, 

 but well in advance of the anal. 



The Eel is found in the Mediterranean and the 

 rivers which drain into it, and on the Atlantic 

 coasts and in the rivers of the Atlantic slope of' 

 Europe as far north as Scandinavia, but it is absent 

 from the Black Sea and its tributaries ; a very similar 

 species {A. chrysypd) is found on the American 

 side of the North Atlantic, which differs from our 

 Eel chiefly in the fewer vertebrae (104 to iio 

 instead of 1 1 1 to 118) and in the more posterior 

 origin of the dorsal fin, the distance between the 

 beginnings of the dorsal and anal fins being 

 always less than the length of the head, measured 

 to the gill-opening, in the American Eel, whereas 

 in our species it is about equal to the length of 

 the head. 



