FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 95 

ORDER APODES (THE EELS.) 
Famity ANGUILLID-. 
Genus ANGUILLA Tuouneenc. 
108. Anguilla rostrata Ler Sueur. 
The Eel. (Figure 58.) 
In the eel the body is elongate, roundish throughout most of its extent, com- 
pressed behind. The scales are deeply imbedded and very irregularly placed, some 
of them at right angles to others. The head is conical, elongate, with pointed snout 
and small eye, exceptin the male. The lower jaw is longer than the upper; the 
jaws with small teeth in bands ; a long patch of teeth on the vomer. The gill open- 
ings are partly below the pectoral fins, small and slit-like. The beginning of the 
dorsal is at a distance of nearly twice the length of the head behind the gill opening. 
The anal begins still farther back and the ventis close to its origin. The dorsal and 
anal fins are continuous around the tail; height of body nearly two-thirds length of 
head, which is contained about eight and one-fourth times in thetotal. The distance 
from the gill opening to the vent equals two and one-half times the length of the 
head; the color varies greatly, but is usually dark brown, more or less tinged with 
yellow, lower parts paler. In the male referred to the upper parts were silvery 
gray, sharply separated from the satiny white of the abdomen. In the eel the lat- 
eral line is very distinct. 
The eel appears to have only one common name. It is one of the 
best known and most singular of our fishes, yet its breeding habits are 
even now enveloped in doubt. The species ascends the rivers of east- 
ern North America from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Mexico, the former 
being the northern linit of the species on our coast. In the Ohio and 
Mississippi Valleys it is extremely common, and its range has been much 
extended by the opening of canals and by artificial introduction. It has 
been transferred to the Pacific coast. A similar and perhaps identical 
species is found in northern Europe and Asia. 
The eel has been known to exceed a length of four feet. Dr. Mitchill 
records a Long Island specimen which weighed sixteen and one-half 
pounds. The average length of individuals, however, is about two feet. 
The female is larger than the male, paler in color, and is different in 
certain other particulars, which will be mentioned in the description of 
the specimens referred to below. 
In Pennsylvania the eel is a very important food fish. It is caught 
chiefly when descending the rivers in the fall. In 1869 about a ton of 
eels were caught in a single fish basket above Harrisburg. At the 
present time this method of capture is illegal. Both adults and young 
eels ascend the streams in spring, the young coming in millions, but in 
the fall run small eels are seldom seen. Until a comparatively recent 
date it was not certainly known that the eels have eggs which are de- 
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