FAMILY OP THE ANGUILLID^E. 



237 



ANGUILLIDiE. 



THE EEL. 



A nguilla — Auctoru m. 



Although I in no respect regard the Eel as worthy of the 

 notice of the angler, a volume on fish and fishing would be 

 incomplete, had it not some allusion to this singular fish, which 

 is, moreover, very excellent on the table. 



The family to which it belongs is of a different order from 

 any which have been enumerated, that of the Apodal Mala- 

 copterygii, or soft-finned fishes, destitute of ventrals. They 

 have slender and elongated bodies, without apparent scales. 



