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ZOOLOGY. 



Order 1. Opisthomi. — In these fishes the ventral fins 

 are either abdominal or wanting. The typical genus is 

 Notocanthus, in which the body is elongated, with a pro- 

 boscis-like snout. 



Order 2. Apodes (Eel). — The branchial apertures are 

 unusually small, and there are no ventral fins, while the 

 body is very long, cylindrical, snake-like. The conger-eel 

 {Conger oceanicus) ranges from Newfoundland to the West 

 Indies. 



The common eel, Anguilla acutirostris (Fig. 203), occurs 

 on both sides of the Atlantic, on the North American coast 

 as far south as Cape Hatteras, and in inland rivers and 



Fig. 203.— Common Eel, Anguilla acutirostris. 



lakes. The males are extremely rare, only four having 

 been found in this country. It is probable that the eol 

 descends rivers in October and November, spawning in the 

 autumn and early winter at the mouth of rivers, and in 

 harbors and estuaries in shallow water. By the end of the 

 spring the young eels are two or three inches long, and then 

 ascend rivers and streams. They grow about an inch a 

 month, and the females do not spawn at least before the 

 second year, i.e., when about twenty inches Li.g. Mr. 

 Mather estimates that the ovary of an eel weighing six 

 pounds when in spawn contains upwards of 9,000,000 



eggs. 



Order 3. Nematognathi (Catfish, Pouts, etc.). — The 



