124 MARVELS OF FISH LIFE 



indicated by the name, is exceptionally small, and they 

 vary in length from three to five inches 



For a time leptocephali were thought to be a distinct 

 species, but about twenty years ago, Grassi, the Sicilian 

 naturalist, by examining specimens obtained from the 

 stomach of the sun-fish, discovered that leptocephali 

 were the larval forms of the eel family. It is only within 

 the last year or two, however, that the life history of 

 our common eel has been partially worked out. 



Eels are present in almost all the fresh waters of 

 Europe, and on the Atlantic side of North America. 

 Two varieties are frequently described, viz. the broad- 

 nosed and the sharp-nosed eel, but these are really 

 one and the same fish, the former being the male and 

 the latter the female. 



Male eels are usually found near the sea in brackish 

 water, and in the mouths of rivers, whereas the females 

 occur in every pond and stream. In October and 

 November immense quantities of eels make their way 

 down the river and descend into salt water. When con- 

 fined in ponds without an outlet, eels frequently travel 

 overland in order to reach water that communicates 

 with the sea. 



Now comes a break in our knowledge of the exact 

 journeyings of the eel, although there is sufficient evidence 

 to make it highly probable that these fish shed floating 

 eggs many hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic. 



The transformation from the leptocephalus to the 

 eel, however, has recently been thoroughly investigated 



