FAMILY ANGtJILLID^ — ANGUILIA. 311 



which unites with a similar one on the anterior part of the vomer. The branchial membrane 

 forms a large dilatable pouch, with thirteen or fourteen slender rays on each side. 



The dorsal, caudal and anal fins are united, and composed of such minute and dehcaterays 

 as to be enumerated with difiiculty. After repeated attempts, the whole number in the three 

 united fins were estimated to range from three hundred and twenty to three hundred and forty. 

 In a specimen fifteen inches long, the dorsal fin commences five and a half inches from the 

 end of the upper jaw, and the vent is six inches and three-tenths from the same point. 

 Pectoral fin narrow, obtusely pointed, with its base two inches distant from the end of the 

 lower jaw, and composed of sixteen minute rays. Air-bladder long, linear, with its anterior 

 extremity pointed. 



Color. Greenish olive above, yellow beneath ; this color extending along the base of the 

 anal fin, nearly to the end of the tail. 



I have no doubt but that Mitchill intended this species in his vague notice of the A. vul- 

 garis or Common Eel ; and also in his account of the Success Eel, to which he attributes, 

 by mistake as I think, 456 rays, I think it probable, but am not so certain, that the Common 

 Eel of Massachusetts, noticed by Dr. Storer, may also be referred to this species. It may 

 possibly be the M. hostoniensis of Lesueur, as given in his brief sketch of the Murenidas 

 of the United States ; but the description is too incomplete to enable me to determine it with 

 certainty. It approaches the A. acutirostris of Yarrel (Vol. 2, p. 284), and may be considered 

 as the representative of that species on our coast. 



The common eel is exceedingly savory, and from its abundance, is a very cheap article of 

 food. It is caught in all our bays and creeks, at all seasons of the year. In the spring and 

 summer, it is taken in large wicker baskets called eel-pots, and also by torch light in the 

 evening with a spear. They are also taken in winter by breaking a hole in the ice, and 

 spearing them as they lie torpid in the mud. They are very voracious ; water insects, small 

 fishes, and all dead animal substances are sought after with equal avidity. The structure of 

 their branchial pouches enables them to live out of water for a long period ; and as they can 

 move along the ground, it is not uncommon to find them shifting their quarters from one creek 

 to another, by crawling through the grass. This species appears to live equally well in salt, 

 brackish, or even fresh water. We have examined the Silver Eel of the fishermen, and are 

 disposed to consider it only as a variety of the above. It is silvery grey above, with a clear 

 satiny white abdomen, separated from the color above by the lateral line. 



