356 Miscellaneous, 



tissue, examined on one side and on the transverse apophysis of a 

 vertebra, exhibits genuine osteoplasts : the vomer is intimately 

 united with the intermaxillie to form a single mass, and the maxillae, 

 greatly elongated and armed with fine teeth of uniform size, enter 

 into the composition of the upper jaw — peculiarities which agree 

 very exactly with the characteristics of the suborder to which I 

 assign this fish ; moreover, no ventral fins are to be seen ; the 

 pectoral fins, which are very distinct, are situated behind a narrow 

 lateral branchial orifice. 



For the determination of the genus an important character is to 

 be drawn from the presence of scales, of the form which is habitual 

 in this group when they occur, that is to say of the subepidermic 

 type. Five genera may be quoted as being provided with these 

 organs, namely Simenchelys, Ilyophis, Histiob ranch us, Synapho- 

 branchus, and Anguilla. In the case of the first three the dorsal 

 fin commences very far forwards, above the pectoral fin or very 

 little behind it ; in the present specimen it arises 27 centimetres 

 from the snout, that is to say towards tho anterior third of the body, 

 at more than twice the length of the head behind the branchial 

 orifice. In Synaphobranchus the branchial orifices are united in a 

 common pit on the ventral median line. The individual under 

 examination therefore belongs to the genus Anguilla — a conclusion 

 which is also confirmed by the other characters. It must even, 

 without entering into more ample details, be regarded as resembling 

 the Common Eel (Anguilla anguilla, Linn.). 



This capture, under such circumstances, not only confirms the 

 incontestable fact that the Eel descends to the sea, but also shows 

 that in certain cases after arrival there it advances sufficiently far 

 to become the prey of animals which only live out at sea, like the 

 great Cetaceans. On the other hand, it has been supposed by 

 several ichthyologists that the individuals of unusually large size, 

 exceeding 500 to 800 grammes in weight, which are met with from 

 time to time in ponds, must be regarded as sterile females which 

 have taken up their abode permanently in fresh water; the obser- 

 vation of Captain Chaves would oppose this hypothesis. 



In consideration of the obscurity which still surrounds the mode 

 of reproduction of this species, the fact is worthy of attracting 

 attention, for I believe that no analogous case has been mentioned, 

 the presence of Eels in their annual migration having been substan- 

 tiated hitherto, in salt water, only at the mouth of watercourses and 

 in absolutely littoral regions, never in the open sea. It may be 

 that they then form part of that pelagic fauna, which never appears 

 at the surface and likewise never touches the bottom — a fauna of 

 the existence of which the discoveries already made by His Serene 

 Hi°hness Prince Albert of Monaco, unier analogous circumstances *, 

 enable us to-day to catch a glimpse. — Comptes Renins, t. exxvi. 

 No. 20 (May 16, 1898), pp. 1429-1430. 



* "Notes sur uu Cachalot'' (Bull. Musium Hist. nat. t. i. p. 305, 

 December 24, 1895). 



