274 



UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 



now appropriate to make some reference to the members of the 

 Eel and Salmon families, which, in a sense, link together the 

 forms of sea and fresh water. 



THE EEL FAMILY (MUR^ENID^). Eels are more or less 

 cylindrical fishes, which may either be scaleless or possess minute 

 scales sunk in the skin. They are widely distributed through the 

 fresh waters and seas of the tropical and temperate regions, some 

 of the most specialized kinds inhabiting the abysmal parts of the 



ocean. They are captured either 

 by hook and line or by means 

 of wicker-work (or metal) traps, 

 provided with funnel - shaped 

 openings. Trident -shaped eel- 

 spears, with numerous tines, are 

 also used in some localities. 

 Creatures of the kind have been 

 esteemed as a savoury food from 

 very remote times, the ancient 

 Greeks and Romans, for ex- 

 ample, being extremely partial 

 to them. There are two British 

 species, the Conger and the 

 Common Eel. 



The Conger (Conger vulgaris, 

 fig. 1201). --This is a large, 

 scaleless marine eel, which not 

 uncommonly attains the length 

 of 6 or 7 feet and a weight of 

 60 Ibs. It is a shallow -water 



form, and has a very wide distribution, occurring all round the 

 shores of Europe, and also inhabiting the coastal waters of 

 St. Helena, Japan, and Tasmania. 



The Common Eel (Anguilla vulgaris]. This is a good deal 

 smaller than the Conger, but full-grown specimens attain a length 

 of 3 feet. When adult it inhabits fresh water, but repairs to the 

 deep sea to spawn, the young eels or elvers making their way up 

 rivers after undergoing a rather startling kind of transformation 

 (see vol. iii, p. 433). This species has a wide distribution in the 

 river-systems that discharge their waters into the North Atlantic 

 (west as well as east coast) and Mediterranean. 



Fig. 1201. Conger Eels [Conger vulgaris) 



