EELS AND CAT-FISHES 



249 





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CONGER-EEL 



The females of this species often sivalloiv the males 



fact that the common eel takes about four or five years to attain a weight -of between 5 and 

 6 Ibs. The males are smaller than the females, the greatest length attained by the former 

 being a little over I foot 7 inches, whilst the latter may attain a length of nearly 4 feet. 

 For a long while what is now known to be the female river-eel was regarded as a distinct 

 species the SHARP-NOSED EEL. The two sexes have quite different habits, the smaller males 

 being found mostly in the brackish water of river-mouths, and rarely above the reach of the 

 tides, whilst the females ascend the rivers for great distances, thousands finding their way 

 into isolated ponds, which they reach by traveling overland. Here they appear to remain 

 till they have reached maturity, when they migrate with one accord to the sea. Coming down 

 the rivers during the months of October and November, hundreds are taken in large niches 

 with traps, the mouths of which are directed up-stream. 



The migration of eels to the sea is for the sole purpose of spawning and fertilising the 

 eggs, which done, they die. The spawning appears to take place in extremely deep water, 

 where the young eels pass the earlier stages of their development. Like the majority of 

 young fishes, the fry are at first very different in form from the adults, and many have 

 from time to time been described as distinct species, no suspicion of their true nature 

 having been aroused. And this is not to be wondered at, for at this stage they are perfectly 

 transparent and compressed from side to side, so as to be but little thicker than a sheet of 

 stout paper; the head is ridiculously small, and only median fins. are present. As develop- 

 ment proceeds, having reached a certain maximum size, the}-, strangely enough, begin to 

 slowly diminish, growing shorter and at the same time rounder, so that eventually, by the 

 time the characteristic eel form is attained, they are considerably shorter than they were at 

 the maximum period of larval life. 



By the time the adult eel form has been attained, the larvae have made their way to 

 the mouths of various rivers, preparatory to making their ascent, which takes place between 



