

192 EDIBLE EISHES OF NEW SOUTK WALES. 



As an insitanoe of the ferocity of this species, we may quote Macgillivray 

 (^see Sichardsoii, Toy. JErehtis ij" Terror, Fish. p. 03, as M. 2^f'asi7ia), who 

 speaks of it as follows : — " It frequents weedy pools among the rocks on the 

 north side of Bondi Bay, near Sydney. It is veiy savage when irritated, 

 and once, when I was collecting corallines in that locality, a large individual 

 made a dart at my ax'm, and returned repeatedly to the attack, swimming 

 slowly about, winding among the seaweeds, and raising its snout to the 

 surface." 



These Eels are ct)mmon on the east coast of Australia, as far south as the 

 metropolitan district, beyond which their range has not been accurately 

 defined. They occur all along the north coast, and doubtless are found to 

 about the same latitude south of the tropics on the west as on the east 

 coast. From the southern Colonies it has not been recorded. 



At Lord Howe Island this is the most common Eel on the shore, and is 

 easily obtained under stones between tidemarks, up to a length of two feet. * 



Beyond the limits of these colonies it has been recorded from many parts 

 of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, within the tropics, while the British 

 Museum contains specimens from such widely-separated localities as Sumatra, 

 Jamaica, and the Niger. 



The Green Eel grows to a length of thirty three inches. 



* Zoology, &c. , of Lord Howe Island Austr. Mus. Mem. Xo. 2, 1889. 



