Fishery Board for Scotland. 



Lejptocephali of the Conger Eel. 



We have only one record of the Leptocephalus of the Conger 

 caught dui'ing these nine years' investigations, and it was taken on 

 the 27th August, 1911, at 50° 58' N. 2° 27' W. Dr. Fulton has, 

 however, given two records for the Moray Firth and a record of two 

 specimens captured in Aberdeen Bay, whilst M'lntosh and Master- 

 man also record two which had been captured on the west coast of 

 Scotland. 



The combined records for the easi coast give us some idea of the 

 time of arrival of the young Conger in the northern North Sea. The 

 stage in the retrograde metamorphosis of oui' specimen apparently 

 lies between those of Fulton's two specimens. The lai-va is 

 128 mm. long, 11 mm. broad, and has lost its larval teeth. 



According to Schmidt, the Conger propagates both in the Mediter- 

 ranean and in the eastern part of the Atlantic between 30° and 40° 

 N. Lat., but not ofE the shores of the British Islands or France, nor 

 further to the north and east. On account of the long pelagic life 

 of the larvse they become distributed over very wide areas. 



Schmidt has also shown that the Conger spawns in spring and 

 summer in the warm salt water of the south, and by the end of the 

 first winter the Leptocephali have reached a size of about 5 cms. 

 Our Scottish specimens are, therefore, of considerably greater age, 

 and are perhaps about two j^ears old, having been carried very far 

 from their original home. 



The records, although so few, are wonderfully consistent with 

 those of the fresh- water eel, and when the specimen caught by 

 Collett on Januaiy 12th, 1898, is taken into consideration there is 

 no doubt but that the larvse of the fresh-water eel and the Conger 

 gain access to the shores of northern Europe by the aid of the same 

 prevailing physical conditions. One would naturally expect a more 

 extended area for the Conger, since the duration of its larval life is 

 much o^reater than that of the fresh- water eel. 



