160 



ZOOLOGY. 



Order 1. OpistJiomi. — In these fishes the ventral fins 

 are either abdominal or wanting. The typical genus is 

 Notocanthus, in which the body is elongated, with a pro- 

 boscis-like snout. 



Order 2. Apudes (Eel). — The branchial apertures are 

 unusually small, and there are no ventral fins, while the 

 body is very long, cylindrical, snake-like. The conger-eel 

 (Conger oceanicus) ranges from Newfoundland to the West 

 Indies. 



The common eel, Ang'tiilla acutirostris (Fig. 203), occurs 

 on botli sides of tlie Atlantic, on the Xorth American coast 

 as far south as Cape Hatteras, and in inland rivers and 



Fig. 203.— Common Eel, Anguilla acittirosfrU. 



lakes. The males are extremely rare, only four having 

 been found in this country. It is probable that the eel 

 descends rivers in October and November, spawning in the 

 autumn and early winter at the mouth of rivers, and in 

 harbors and estuaries in sliallow water. By the end of tlie 

 spring the young eels are two or three inches long, and then 

 ascend rivers and streams. They grow about an inch a 

 month, and the females do not s]>awn at least before tlie 

 second year, i.e., when about twenty inches 1 g. Mr. 

 Mather estimates that the ovary of an eel weighing six 

 pounds when in spawn contains upwards of 9,000,000 

 eggs. 



Order 3. NemaiognatM (Catfish, Pouts, etc.). — The 



