THE COMMON EEL 



[Anguilla vulgaris) 



The eel has a wide distribution and, wherever there is water, is 

 found all over Great Britain. Some say there is more than one 

 species, as one has a sharp nose and another a broad nose. 

 Professor Grassi explains this by stating that the sharp-nosed eels 

 are the males and the broad-nosed ones the females and immature 

 males. According to Professor Grassi, the eel does not arrive at 

 maturity until it is five or six years old. If this is the case there must 

 be a very great difference in the weight of eels of the same age, 

 because many ot them migrate when under i lb. in weight, while 

 others are from i to 6 and even 8 lbs. 



The eel fisheries of Ireland are ot considerable value, one bringing 

 a rental of over ^2000. Where food is plentiful eels grow to a large 

 size. In Loch Leven they often weigh 6 or 7 lbs., and I have known 

 them to exceed this weight in the river Tay. li they are prevented 

 from gfoinof to the sea they live to a g^oocl old age. I know ot one 

 in a small pond which looked quite 10 lbs. ten years ago, and is 

 still alive and manages to trustrate all attempts to capture it. The 

 pond in which it lives contains small perch and the largest minnows 

 I have ever seen. 



The eel fry come up all our rivers in countless thousands, 

 distributing themselves over every stream and loch in Great Britain. 

 They appear in the Tay about the 20th of April, when both sides of 

 the river to the width of about 10 yards are crowded with them. In 



their movement upwards on a quiet day they make a ripple like that 



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