194 



COMMON EEL. 



Class IV. 



Descrip- 

 tion. 



Silver 

 Eels. 



Grigs. 



They are extremely voracious, and very de- 

 structive to the fry of other species. No fish 

 lives so long out of water as the eel : it is ex- 

 tremely tenacious of life, as its parts will move 

 a considerable time after they are flayed and 

 cut into pieces. 



The eel is placed by Lbinaus in the genus of 

 Murcena, his first of the apodal fishes, or such 

 which want the ventral fins. The eyes are 

 situated not remote from the end of the nose ; 

 the irides are tinged with red ; the under jaw is 

 longer than the upper; the teeth are small, 

 sharp, and numerous; beneath each eye is a 

 minute orifice ; at the end of the nose are two 

 others, small and tubular. It is furnished with 

 a pair of pectoral fins, rounded at their ends ; 

 another narrow fin, on the back, unites with that 

 of the tail ; and the anal fin joins it in the same 

 manner beneath ; behind the pectoral fins is the 

 orifice to the gills, which are concealed in the 

 skin. Eels vary much in their colors, from a 

 sooty hue to a light olive green ; and those which 

 are called silver eels, have their bellies white, 

 and a remarkable clearness throughout. 



Besides these, there is another variety of this 

 fish, known in the Thames by the name of Grigs, 

 and about Oxford by that of Grigs or Gluts. 

 These are scarcely ever seen near Oxford in the 



