226 MALACOPTERYGII. 



presumed to this species, mentions a large -mouthed eel, which preys much on 

 fish, as an inhabitant of the river Shannon. 



" Mr. Yarrell observes, ' In its habits the broad-nosed eel has not been dis- 

 tinguished by any peculiarity that I am aware of from the other common eel ' 

 (vol. ii. p. 299), but the folloA\ing circumstances incline me to believe, in addi- 

 tion to what has been mentioned, that there is a further difference in this respect. 

 On looking over some thousand eels taken in the nets at Toome, on the night of 

 the 24th of Sept., I did not recognise one of the broad-nosed species, nor have I 

 seen it among eels brought from this place to Belfast market, nor again with the 

 A. latirostris, exposed here for sale, have I detected the common eel ; but as it 

 is from an examination in a very few instances that I speak, this may perhaps 

 apply only in general terms. The season at which the two species are brought 

 to this market is different, the time for the .4. latirostris being summer, and 

 autumn for the A. acidirostris. The intelligent fisherman before noticed states, 

 however, that he has taken both species on his night lines at the same time. He 

 knew the broad-nosed from the common eel before it appeared at the surface, 

 by the greater resistance offered, and frequently it was brought up twisted round 

 the line in its endeavours to become extricated from the hook. 



" During the summer months the A. latirostris is brought in by the tide as it 

 flows over the banks of Belfast Bay, and is taken by eel-spearers. A specimen 

 4| inches long that I examined, and which was procured oft" the coast of the 

 County Antrim at mid-winter, had in proportion to its size every character as 

 strongly marked as the largest of its species : the fleshy prominence on each 

 side of the head and terminating at the nape, was very conspicuous." — Ann. Nat. 

 Hist., vol. ii. 



" In my last paper on fishes (see Annals, p. 21 of the present volume) this 

 species is stated to be called ' Culloch,' — by my having adapted the orthography 

 to the sound of the word, — at Lough Neagh. It should rather have been coUach, 

 as, by reference to O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary, I have since ascertained this word 

 to imply ' mcked,' and hence doubtless the origin of the name, the species being 

 characterized as most voracious and as subsisting chiefly on other fish. The 

 person who described it to me by the name of collach gave a direful account of 

 this propensity, by stating that it preys on other eels, more especially at Coleraine 

 Salmon-leap, where 'it drinks the young fry in.' The provincial names of Gorb 

 and Glut Eel have obviously been bestowed upon it for a similar reason." — 

 Ann. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. 



Mr. W. Todhunfer, in a note dated in 1839, speaks of it as common 

 about Portumna ; but it is never taken with the sharp-nosed ; he thinks 

 (as the fishermen at Lough Neagh do) that it is not migratory. 



In Jidi/, 1840, we took the young, about 2 inches in length, as well as 

 those of A. acidirostris of similar size, on the sea-coast of the Co. Galway. 



April 12, 1848. — I saw a number of very large ones in Belfast market, 

 which were taken to-day in the bay, Avhere they sometimes attain 4 lbs. 

 weight. They were very typical specimens, the head being as round in 

 outHne as half a circle. They are called bulldogs, or bulldog-headed 

 eels. 



Mr. Meenan says it is sold at 3f/. per lb. in Belfast market, and is con- 

 sidered coarse compared with the other. It is said by the Lough Neagh 

 fishers not to leave the lake. A few odd ones are taken in the nets at 

 Toome, and, when Mr. Finiston had the fishing, these were thrown to the 

 pigs. The people who bought the other eels rejected them. Mr. M. has 

 got 2 cwt. of them from Lough Neagh in a morning ; four or five boats 

 would have been engaged in taking them on their hooks ; the men shoot 

 their lines at night, and draw them early in the morning. Taken from 

 April to July, or when the fishermen leave them for the pollans ; not 

 taken in winter. 



