EELS. 119 



The Elvers ascend our rivers in millions ; some climb the banks, 

 of the rivers and streams and pass over wet fields, eventually 

 reaching suitable ponds ; others stay in holes in the muddy banks 

 of the streams. The Elvers are greatly reduced in numbers as 

 the migration proceeds, many being eaten by fish such as the Pike, 

 and by birds, while for human consumption vast quantities are 

 caught and sold during the " Eel-fare," as the migration of the 

 Elvers is termed. 



There are no reliable statistics of the British Eel-fisheries ; in 

 Denmark they are important and produce an annual yield of over 

 .£100,000 in value. Eels are caught usually in traps of basket- 

 work or netting, especially during their migrations to the Atlantic 

 in autumn for the purpose of spawning. 



Eels are voracious feeders and diligently poke their noses under 

 small and large stones, and laboriously move the large ones, 

 sometimes assisting one another in their search for crustaceans, 

 fishes, spawn, &c, upon which they feed. They are extremely 

 rapid in their movements, and when well grown have few enemies 

 but man ; the Pike, however, commits great depredations among 

 the young ones. 



Eels grow naturally to about three feet. If prevented from 

 descending to the sea they grow to four feet or more, and one 

 specimen has been known to live to the age of forty years in fresh 

 water. The Eel is an excellent food-fish, the flesh being of agree- 

 able flavour, and tender if properly cooked, although becoming 

 tough and leathery in inexperienced hands. 



The Conger (396) is a purely marine fish, and prefers deep Conger, 

 waters with a rocky bottom. It is almost cosmopolitan and is 

 widely distributed along the coasts of the North Atlantic, 

 Mediterranean, Japan, Tasmania, &c. It is caught on long-lines, 

 and in the British Isles the fishery yields about 70,000 cwts. 

 annually, valued at nearly €50,000. The Conger is a coarser fish 

 than the Anguilla and grows to a larger size, the female some- 

 times attaining a length of eight feet ; the male rarely exceeds two 

 feet. A Conger may be readily distinguished from a Common Eel 

 by the dorsal fin commencing nearer the head than in the latter. 



The Nemichthyidae differ from the Anguillidae in the vent being Neniich- 

 set forward, close to the gill-openings; the gill-openings are wide, 



