Contributions to the Life-History of tlie Eel 

 (Angiiilla vulgaris, Flem.) 



By JoHS. Schmidt 



With 4 Plates (PI. VII— IX and XIII), 3 Charts (PI. X— XII) and a Summary in German 



PREFACE 



I his treatise is based chiefly on investigations made on board the Danish investi- 

 gation-steamer "Thor", which was employed the most of June 1905 in the search for 

 the larval stages of the eel {Leptocephahcs brevirostris) in the Atlantic Ocean. 



I have also collected information and material, especially on the ascent of the elvers, 

 from various parts of West and North Europe. Wherever I have applied for information 

 and material I have met with the greatest kindness, and always received the impression 

 that interest was general and widespread in this subject, namely, the developmental 

 history of the eel. As will be seen, 1 have obtained much important information from 

 the directors of the fisheries investigations in the various countries. Mr. E. W. L. Holt 

 of Dublin especially has been unremitting in his endeavours to aid me on many occa- 

 sions, and has been able to do so more than any other, chiefly because Ireland lies 

 nearer to the regions where the larvae of the eel occur than any other country taking 

 part in the international investigations. 



The Danish fisheries agent in England, Captain A. S0LLING has also procured me 

 much important information, and I have also benefited by the assistance of various Danish 

 consuls and vice-consuls in Great Britain, France and Spain' as well as of private per- 

 sons both in Denmark and foreign countries, especially Cand. Mag. Ad. Jensen, Zoological 

 Museum, Copenhagen, who has identified one of our Leptocephalus-species and given me 

 information regarding the literature on several occasions. 



I owe special thanks to the Chairman of "Kommissionen for Havundersogels.er", 

 Dr. C. G. JoH. Petersen, whose great interest in the matter originally caused the investi- 

 gations on the biology of the eel in the Atlantic Ocean to be included in the program of 

 the work of the "Thor" for 1905, so that I was enabled to use the greater part of a 

 month almost exclusively for this purpose. It should be remembered also that we owe 



' I I have received reports or material from the following consuls and vice-consuls: J. Anderson Norrie 

 (Stornoway), J. Foley (Tralee, Ireland), H. J. George (Weymouth, England), Ch. Bailac (Bayonne), O. Chr. 

 Kellgren (Cadiz), Ch. L. Foyne (Fowey), James Caldwell (Portrush & Coleraine), William H. Farrell 

 (Waterford), CARLOS HOPPE (Bilbao), JORGE MowiNCKEL (Santander), Jorge Mueller (San Sebastian). 



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