192 



(A.) Beginning of the dorsal considerably before the anus. 



(a.) At about two inches, in a specimen of twenty inches 



long — DiejJ'enbachii. 

 (b.~) At one inch, on a specimen of seventeen inches long — 

 AucTclandi. 

 (.B.) Beginning of the dorsal rather before the anus — Australis. 



In the latter the pectorals are very small, and are much 

 larger in AucTclandi. I must add that Dr. Grunther considers 

 Dieffenbachii as the same as the European Latirostris ; but it is 

 evident that either this zoologist is mistaken, or that this 

 eel has been imported to New Zealand, as several other Euro- 

 pean fishes have been to Australia. 



Eels seem to extend over all the antarctic regions, and in my 

 notice of the fishes of the Cape of Good Hope I mentioned a 

 sort found in that part of South Africa. 



ANGUILLA AUSTRALIS. 



Anguilla Australis, Richard., Zool. Trans., vol. iii., p. 157, 



'Richard., Erebus and Terror, Fishes, 



vol. i., p. 112, pi. 45. 



THE EEL. 



This is the common eel of the Tarra, and of several other 

 streams of Yictoria and Tasmania ; but it appears doubtful 

 whether it extends to New Zealand. Dr. Bichardson has already 

 pointed out some slight differences between the specimens from 

 each locality. 



This eel, though covered with minute scales, arranged in a 

 lattice work way, is very smooth and slippery. The pectorals 

 are not longer than the cleft of the mouth. 



Its colours are very changeable; generally it is of a dark 

 green, with the lower parts iighter and grey ; sometimes it 

 shows faint transverse spots or bands of a more obscure 

 tinge. The dorsal and anal are often in a great part yellow. 



It attains large dimensions. 



ANGUILLA REINHARDTII. 



Anguilla Beinhardtii, Gunther, vol. viii., p. 27. 



Steindachner (Grunther), ATc Wiss. 



Wien, 1867. 



