FISH NOTES 231 



of the anterior portion was white, blotched here 

 and there with large spots of vermilion, amid a 

 sprinkling of small brown dots. Around the eyes 

 were rings of red. The right pectoral fin was 

 white, the ventrals also ; while the dorsal and anal 

 fins for half their length were a pinkish white, the 

 remaining portions being brown. 



A Thornback Ray with the upper surface per- 

 fectly white was taken in a shrimp-net off shore in 

 August 1903. It equalled in size a dinner plate. 



SOME EEL NOTES 



Our local eel-catchers, who, in the course of a 

 year, secure many tons of eels, have some very 

 crude ideas respecting its species, its movements, 

 and its reproduction. Several fancy distinctions are 

 given to the two kinds known here, the Broad-nosed 

 and the Sharp-nosed Eel, the latter being known 

 as the Silver-bellied; this is by far the most 

 numerously taken. The eel-catchers talk of " glotts " 

 and " brotts," and other varieties, that after all only 

 differ in coloration, due undoubtedly to habitat, 

 environment, food, or other local cause. With 

 regard to the Eel's reproduction, they assert seriously 



