108 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Genus ANGUILLA Shaw. Common Eels. 

 Form elongate, rounded anteriorly, compressed posteriorly; head long, 

 conical; mouth large, lower jaw projecting; teeth small, in bands in each jaw, and 

 a patch on vomer; branchial opening a small slit, about width of base of pector- 

 als; nostrils well separated, the anterior tubular; lateral line well marked; body 

 covered with minute embedded scales arranged mostly in small groups, some 

 of which are placed at right angles; dorsal and anal fins long, dorsal origin not 

 near the head. One American species probably a variety of the European 

 eel (Anguilla anguilla). 



97. ANGUILLA OHRISYPA Raflnesque. 

 "Eel"; Common Eel; Fresh-water Eel. 



Anguilta chrisypa Raflnesque, American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review, 1817, 120; I,ake George, Hud- 

 son River, and Lake Champlain. Linton, 1905, 351; Beatifort. 



Anguilla sp. Cope, ISTOb, 491; "all the Atlantic waters of North Carolina" 



Anguilla bostonienaia, Yarrow, 1877, 216; Beaufort. 



Anguilla vulgaris, Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 385; Beaufort Harbor. 



Anguilla anguilla roatrata, Jenkins, 1887, 86; Beaufort. Jordan, 1889b, 129, 133, 139; Neuse, Cape Fear, and 

 Catawba rivers. 



Anguilla chryaypa. Smith, lS93a, 191, 195, 199; Pasquotank and Roanoke rivers, and Edenton Bay. Ever- 

 mann & Cox, 1896, 305; Neuse River. Smith, 1901, 134; Lake Mattamuskeet. Kendall & Smith, 1894, 

 21; Hatteras Inlet. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 348, pi. Iv, fig. 143. 



Diagnosis. — Depth of body about .8 total length; head .12 length; eye about .6 length of 

 snout; origin of dorsal fin behind branchial slit about twice length of head; anal origin about 

 length of head posterior to dorsal origin; fins low; length of pectorals about .33 length of head 

 Color: variable, usually greenish brown above, often brownish yellow, white below, {chrisypa, 

 gold-bellied.) 



The common eel has a wide distribution in the eastern part of North Amer- 

 ica; it is found from Canada to the West Indies and as far westward as the Rocky 

 Mountains. It ascends all the coastwise streams, and is a permanent resident of 

 the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley. It occurs as a migrant in all the streams 

 of North Carolina east of the AUeghenies and doubtless in the upper waters of the 

 French Broad. 



The maximum length of the eel is about 5 feet, although the average is under 

 3 feet. Eels of all sizes are found in the rivers and coastal waters at all times, 

 but there are definite movements of adults from the fresh waters to the sea, and 

 of young from salt water to the rivers. The eel belongs to the class of catadro- 

 mous fishes — that is, those which go to the sea to spawn. There has been much 

 mystery surrounding the spawning and other habits of eels, and some curious 

 notions are entertained regarding the fish. Even at the present time much 

 remains to be learned about this species, but the following facts seem to be estab- 

 lished, based in part on the observations of the European eel, whose habits are 

 similar to those of our own species. 



Eels produce eggs like most of our common fishes; the eggs are, however, 

 exceedingly small and numerous, and may easily be mistaken for the fatty tissue 

 of the ovary in which they are embedded. The eggs are only a little more than 

 .01 inch in diameter, and the number produced by a large fish has been estimated 



