Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 365 



He saw it under his pier 2 or 3 different mornings, then shot it. It 

 had been crippled some way and had a wound on the belly 3 or 4 

 inches long. The fish was at least 40 inches in length. There 

 seemed to be a general impression about the lake that they were 

 rather common and could be obtained in numbers by any one who 

 took trouble to fish for them, but the logic by which this conclu- 

 sion was reached ("there must be a good many eels in the lake, be- 

 cause nobody has ever taken many out") is not particularly con- 

 vincing. No eels were ever seen in the Outlet, although it was 

 watched pretty closely for migratory fishes. Lampreys were oc- 

 casionally taken in the Outlet by fishers with minnow seines and 

 were usually thought to be young eels. The eelskin is in good local 

 repute as a remedy for rheumatism and sprains, the dried skin 

 being placed over the afiPected parts as a bandage. 



^/-5«^^.^i^;^?^ 



^f»~^ ?s^?5?pf^gs^5r^'^'^^ 



Common Eel (Anffuilla rostrata \ 



Nothing was observed at the lake concerning the habits of the 

 Eel. They are said to be carnivorous and voracious and very fond 

 of crawfishes. Specimens kept in the aquariums at the Bureau 

 of Fisheries are affected by fish lice more than any other fishes 

 except the toad fishes. 



The Eel can be distinguished at once from the lamprey by the 

 presence of jaws and fins, the single gill-opening and embedded 

 scales. It could not be confounded with any other species of fish 

 in the lake. 



Body elongate, compressed behind, covered with embedded 

 scales which are linear in form and placed obliquely, some at right 

 angles to others ; lateral line well developed ; head long, conical, 

 moderately pointed ; the rather small eye well forward and over 

 the angle of the mouth; teeth small, subequal, in bands on each jaw 

 and a long patch on the vomer; tongue free at tip; lips rather full, 

 with a free margin behind, attached by a frenum in front ; lower 

 jaw projecting; gill-openings rather small, slit-like, about as wide 



