Seupentine AroDAi,s.- 



-FISHES.- 



-Anguillids. 



139 



posterior nostrils concealed by a fold of white integu- 

 ment within the edge of the lip. These divisions are 

 named respectively j^haneromycteres or " exposed nos- 

 trils," and cnjptomycteres, " concealed nostrils." The 

 latter division is conterminous with the single family of 

 Ophisuroids, which, in addition to the character derived 

 from the position of the nostril-tube, has another in the 

 naked tip of die tail, projecting between the upper and 

 lower vertical tins. In some of the genera the pectorals 

 are very small, but they are not wholly absent in any 

 Ophisuroid. Though the gill-openings are lateral, j'ct 

 as they are frequently larger in the Ophisuroids than 

 in other members of the Serpentiform Apodal group, 

 and are moreover placed low on the side of the neck, 

 there is often but a very narrow intei-val between them 

 on the throat. The Ophisuroids have a smooth mucoid 

 skin, destitute of scales. In some of them small cuta- 

 neous tags fringe the upper lip, and in several the 

 proximal ends of the nostril-tubes protrude like barbels 

 on the side of the snout. 



This family belongs to the warmer parts of both 

 oceans. A few members of it inhabit the Mediterra- 

 nean, and one species passes northwards along the 

 Spanish coasts to the Bay of Biscay. 



The genera are — Leiuraiius; Centniropfiis ; Pa^cilocepJiahis ; 

 Microdonophis ; Ca^cilophis ; Ophisui'iis ; Berjjetuirht/ti/s ; 

 Brachijsomophis ; Ehpsopds ; Mtjs/riophis ; Murtsnopsis ; 

 Echiopsls; LepttJi'kmnphis ; Flsodonop/ns ; Lamnosioma\ An- 

 (/utsuriis ; Sphagehranchus ; CIrvhimuriEiia ; Calhckelya ; Ich- 

 t/tynpus ; Ophlsuraphis ; Myrophis ; Jlurccuicht/iys ; and 

 Myriis (K;iup. Cat.) 



Family II.— ANGUILLIDS {Ed Famlhj). 

 Plate 1, fig. G. 



This group contains but one genus {Anguilla), and 

 its members, the Eels, are anadromous fishes, some of 

 them living and dying in fresh water, and migrating 

 merely from river to lake and back again after spawning; 

 but generally they descend in autumn from the upper 

 streams to the estuaries, where the mixture of fresh 

 and salt water raises the temperature, and there deposit 

 their spawn. In the ensuing spring the j'oung may be 

 observed ascending rivers, in dense columns, close to the 

 banks, swarming up the moist gates of weirs and locks, 

 and overcoming other obstacles to their upward course. 

 This movement is called the Eel-fiire. 



Lateral gill-openings, with operoula and branchio- 

 stegals ; conspicuous pectorals ; the end of the tail 

 encompassed by the union of the dorsal and anal ; and 

 longish, oval, cycloid scales imbedded in the mucoid 

 .skin, transversely and obliquely, so as to resemble 

 lattice-work— are characters of the family, and of the 

 single genus it contains. Card-like or villiform teeth 

 arm the jaws. Dr. Kaup has described, in his Cata- 

 logue, forty-five species, which are generally diflused 

 in the fresh waters of both the northern and southern 

 hemispheres, and doubtless the numbers will be greatly 

 augmented by future ichthyologists, since hitherto col- 

 lectors have given but little attention to the foreign 

 members of the grnus. 



As furnishing a nourishing food. Eels are in much 

 request, though the Celtic races generally, and some 

 other nations, entertain a prejudice against them because 



of their resemblance to serpents. Aiiyuilla, the Latin 

 name for the Eel, is retained in modern Italian, and 

 means in fact a little serpent. In the time of Juvenal 

 Eels were consumed by the populace at Rome, but 

 were despised by the wealthy classes on account of their 

 feeding in the sewers. No such dislike appears to have 

 been entertained in England in after-times; and the 

 cellaress of Barking Abbey is ordered by the statutes 

 of that religious house to provide "Russaulx" (Rus- 

 sclet pears?) "in Lenten, to bake with Eles on Shrove 

 Tuesdav," and to, have " Stubbe Eles and Nine-shaft 

 Eles."*' 



In London at the present day Eels are a favourite 

 delicacy of the working classes. Vast quantities are 

 consumed in making a rich soup or stew, which is sold 

 in pennyworths near coach-stands, being cooked on the 

 spot over portable furnaces. Eel-pie houses are also 

 numerous on the banks of the Thames, wherein tliis 

 fish is served up to a higher class of customers. In 

 Mayhew's work on London Labour, ten millions of 

 Eels are stated to be sold annually in the metropolitan 

 fish-markets, weighing, at six Eels to the pound, nearly 

 one million six hundred thousand pounds. Dutch 

 fishermen are the chief suppliers of this article of food ; 

 but considerable quantities are imported from Ireland, 

 Eel fisheries being established on the Shannon and 

 elsewhere in that island. f A great consumption of 

 Eels also takes place in the manufacturing districts of 

 England, so that altogether, though they cannot be 

 classed as an important item in the staple food of the 

 nation, the)' are useful as a variety of diet, and a cheap 

 luxury. Eels are taken in the fenny districts by 

 barbed spears of several prongs, which are plunged 

 into the mud and withdrawn again, often with one or 

 more Eels impaled on the barbs. In rivers a more 

 regular fishery is carried on by fixing a barrier of wicker 

 baskets across the stream. Many are also caught by 

 hooks, baited with worms or fish, and set over-night. 

 Frost or bright moonshine are adverse to success in 

 this kind of fishery. The New York market, according 

 to Dr. Mitehill, is supplied with Eels at all seasons, the 

 fishery being carried on in summer by eel-pots, nets, 

 or by bobbing in the evenings with a bunch of tough 

 bait; in winter Eels are procured b)' spearing in the 

 mud. 



Charlevoix in his" History of Canada," iii. 170, gives 

 the following notice of a productive Eel-fishery estab- 

 lished above a century ago on the Saint Lawrence. 

 In the course of the river between Quebec and Troif 

 Rivieres a prodigious quantity of large Eels are t;d<en 

 in this manner. On the wet beach, exposed to the 

 atmosphere by the ebb-tide, boxes are built at certain 

 distances ranged opposite an inclosure of hurdles, 

 through which the Eels cannot pass. Hedges of inter- 

 laced willows diverge from the mouth of each box and 

 run to the line of hurdles, tufts of grass being attached 

 to them at intervals. When the fiood-tide has covered 



* By f-'tubbe Eels were meant probably tliick, short ones, 

 anil if the term iiine-shaft be equivalent to " nine-eyes," iho 

 fccond kind of Eels were Lampicys. A slutft vmmie was a 

 measure of length equal to about lial'f a foot, but four and a half 

 feet would be a very extraordinary length for eels. 



t The amount of Eels brought annually by sea to London has 

 been stated at seven hundred Ions 1— (Simmons' Car. of Food). 



