176 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



localities is too low, and relief might be obtained by supplying 

 sea water of normal ocean density. 



The young and larval form of the conger is a curious, elongate, 

 transparent, bandlike creature with a minute head, a very small 

 mouth and with the lateral line, belly, and anal fin dotted with 

 black points. 



An individual nearly 3 feet long was captured with a hand line 

 by A. P. Latto in the ocean, near Southampton L. I. Aug. 3, 1898, 

 while fishing for sea bass and scup. 



In the Woods Hole region, according to Dr Smith, '' it comes 

 in July and remains until fall; very common for several years, 

 but rather rare formerly. Fishermen as a rule do not dis- 

 tinguish it from the common eel. A few are taken in traps and 

 with lines, but many large ones, weighing from 8 pounds 

 upward, are caught in lobster pots. A specimen in the col- 

 lection weighs 10 pounds. One caught on a line at Falmouth, 

 Aug. 30, 1897, weighed 12 pounds. The smallest observed are 

 15 to 20 inches long." 



Mitchill declared the flesh to be very dainty eating. DeKay 

 said the flesh has a peculiar unsavory taste. He discovered that 

 it is a vicious animal, snapping when captured at everything 

 near it. In France the conger eel is among the cheapest and 

 least esteemed of the food fishes. 



The observations of Dr Otto Hermes, director of the Berlin 

 aquarium, on the habits and the reproduction of the conger eel 

 are of very great interest. Reference is made to them by Goode 

 in Fisli (I ml Fislterif Industries of the United States, 1, p. 657, and 

 two figures copied from drawings of Dr Hermes are given in the 

 text. The ovary of the conger, says Dr Hermes, is developed 

 in captivity, and this is often the cause of the death of the eel. 

 In a conger which died in the Berlin aquarium the ovaries pro- 

 truded very extensively, and a specimen in the Frankfort aqua- 

 jiuiii l)urst on account of the extraordinary development of the 

 ovaries. The ovaries of this eel, which weighed 22^ pounds, 

 themselves weighed 8 pounds, and the number of eggs was about 

 3,300,()()(). The wjint of a natural opening for the escape of the 

 eggs was ovidriitly in (his case, the cause of death. In the fall 



