23,2 H err e: Philippine Eels 203 



Body very elongate, very slender, and cylindrical or nearly so, 

 being therefore exceedingly serpentine in form. Head low an- 

 teriorly, snout often thick, rounded at tip and tumid back to 

 posterior nostrils so that there is a wide deep groove over eyes ; 

 mouth large and provided with a formidable array of teeth. 



These eels lurk about the small opening to the pound, or inner- 

 most inclosure, of the fish corrals, or baclad, hiding in holes 

 and seizing fish as they enter the corral. Fresh specimens are 

 usually limp and often shrink very much in preservative. A 

 fresh specimen with a length of 1,453 millimeters contracted 

 65 millimeters in 50 per cent alcohol and after being transferred 

 to 70 per cent alcohol was found later to have lost over 100 

 millimeters. 



This species breeds in the fall in the Philippines. A spec- 

 imen taken from Manila Bay, September 1, 1921, having a length 

 of 1,453 millimeters, was full of eggs, while another female with 

 a length of 1,260 millimeters, caught in November, 1921, near 

 Alaminos, Pangasinan Province, was ready to spawn. 



I have examined two specimens from Lingayen Gulf, Alaminos, 

 Pangasinan Province, three from Manila Bay, one from Iloilo, 

 one from Agusan River, Mindanao, and one from Sandakan, 

 Borneo, varying from 755 to 1,640 millimeters in length. 



Measurements of large specimens of Evenchelys macrurus. 



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This eel is common in the Philippines, though it is not easy 

 to get specimens, the fishermen usually cutting them up or at 

 least removing the head before taking them to market. It is 

 called malabanos in Tagalog, ogdoc by the Visayans of Iloilo, 

 and taguibos in Cebu. 



This fish reaches a length of more than 3 meters and some 

 authors claim it is the largest of all eels, a statement with which 

 T cannot agree, owing to its slenderness; nevertheless it may 



