458 THE EEL FAMILY. 



The earliest stage of a conger made known to us by the 

 Italian observers is of this form and differs from the next stage 

 in the black dots on the lateral line being confined to the poste- 

 rior end of the body and in the presence of long and prominent 

 teeth. By an extension forwards of the dots and a replacement 

 of the larval by the adult teeth, the stage hitherto known as 

 Leptocephahis morrisii is reached. Kaup diagnoses this form 

 as follows : — ' A blunt head, scarcely visible teeth ; lateral line, 

 belly, and anal fin dotted with black points ; tail pointed ; 

 greatest height one-ninth of the total length.' As the meta- 

 morphosis proceeds, a stage is reached, identical with Lepto- 

 cephahis punctatus ; this is also diagnosed by Kaup as : — ' A 

 round vermiform body ; points along the lateral line, oblique 

 pairs of dots along the edge of the belly ; anus before the 

 middle of the body, and a row of indistinct points on the anal 

 fin. — Messina.' 



From this stage, the metamorphosis proceeds ; the most 

 conspicuous feature is a great reduction in size — Leptocephali of 

 .5 inches may become young congers of no more than 3 inches. 

 Together with this reduction in size, there is an alteration in 

 the position of the vent, a reduction of the hypertrophied 

 gelatinous skeleton, and a development of dark pigmentation. 

 Cunningham finds young congers in the Cornwall district as 

 small as 8| inches in length, and he remarks upon the sparsity 

 of black pigment in specimens from this size to 15 inches. 

 They occur on the east coast of a length of 15 inches in 

 March, the black pigment is then copious in the dorsal region. 



Conger of 8, or even 9 feet are common, and in these, 

 if Cunningham's views are to be accepted, maturation of the 

 sexual elements must be postponed till far beyond the third 

 year. 



Concluding Remarks upon the Murcenoids. 



From the preceding accounts of our present state of know- 

 ledge concerning the life-histories of the eel and the conger, it 

 will be seen that the mystery attaching thereto is on a fair way 

 to being cleared up. At the same time a great deal yet remains 



