Eel Family ; The Conger. 147 



score. These were caught chiefly in the E. Swin and neigh- 

 bourhood of the Sunk Light. Moreover, Yarrell mentions one 

 that lived three weeks in confinement at Harwich. Then Dr. 

 Sorby found Hippocampus in the Zostera beds at Colne Point, 

 1897. Lastly, J. Avery got a specimen at Clacton, 1900. 

 (Fitch). 



The Eel Family (Murcenidce) are represented by (1) The 

 CONGER (Conger vulgaris), a salt water resident, and (2) the 

 COMMON EEL (Anguilla vulgaris), afresh water sojourner, which 

 annually migrates seawards. Bearing considerable likeness to 

 each other, their most conspicuous distinctions are : Congers, 

 dorsal fin commencing well forward, and snout projecting ; Eels, 

 back-fin starting mid-body, and lower jaw in advance of snout. 

 Colour forms no sure guide, and other so-called varieties of both 

 kinds of Eels depend rather on age, locality, sterility, and other 

 variable conditions than on specific differentiation. 



The Conger. Along our southern border, for example, the 

 Ridge and Varne shoals, the neighbourhood of Dungeness, 

 Folkestone and Dover, Congers are very numerous, and many of 

 enormous size. Buckland mentions capture of a Conger 8 feet 

 long and 26 inches girth, at Folkestone, and he saw another 

 there 5 feet 7 inches long and 24 inches girth. This last had a 

 flounder and two soles inside it. A third he records from 

 Folkestone, 6 feet 4 inches long, girth 21 inches and weight 

 50 Ib. Thirty and more are got at a haul near Dungeness. 

 Some of the Folkestone men follow Conger-Eel fishing the 

 greater part of the year, sending the bulk of fheir catch to 

 London. The Conger, however, is widely, perhaps irregularly, 

 distributed in our Fisheries District, though not specially 

 sought for at many of the stations. They occasionally pay 

 visits to the brackish waters, nay, even ascend rivers. For 

 instance, several were caught in the Thames, as high as 

 Woolwich, in 1869. They now and again have been taken 

 in the neighbourhood of Sea Reach, or captured by the 

 shrimpers near the Chapman Light and in the Leigh Roads. 



