360 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 



1. Common eel. (A nguilla vulgaris.) Olive brown eel, subargenteous 

 beneath, with the lower jaw longer than the upper. 



Agrees in the main with the common eel of the books, though there 

 seems to be some variety in the number of the rays in his fins. He is 

 sometimes brown on the back, and yellow on the belly ; and occa- 

 sionally black above, and dusky below. Has been known to weigh 

 twelve pounds and a half, as taken in the bay of New-York. The 

 largest one I have heard of was caught in one of the south bays of 

 Long-Island, and weighed sixteen pounds and a half. 



The eel is brought to the New-York market at all seasons of the 

 year. In the summer he is taken in nets, and in baskets made of 

 wooden splinters, called eel-pots. He is also taken by the hook ; and 

 in summer evenings by a bunch of tough bait, after a manner called 

 bobbing. In the winter eels lie concealed in the mud, and are taken in 

 great numbers by spears. It is a common custom in New-York for the 

 fishmongers to skin them ; and vast quantities of eels are disposed of in 

 that way. 



The roes or ovaria of eels may be seen, by those who will look for 

 them in the proper season, like those of other fish. By inattentive 

 observers they may be mistaken for masses of fat. For some curious 

 facts on the production of eels in the New-York waters, the Medical 

 Repository may be consulted, vol. 10th, p. 201 — 203. 



2. Conger eel. (Anguilla conger.) Dark brown, whitish below, and a 

 lateral line dotted with white. 



I examined a living one on the 7th July, 1814, which was thirty- 

 seven inches in length, seven and a half in girth, and weighed three 

 pounds and eleven ounces. Flesh white, and very dainty eating. Co- 

 lour of the back and sides, a very dark brown ; sometimes lighter on 

 and near the fins, of which those on the back and belly are tipped or 

 margined with black. Lateral line distinct, and noted by a row of 



