of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



197 



1 Mr J. Mooney of Providence, R. I., in October 1877. The eggs were 

 1 examined by Prof. John Pierce, who found that they measured T ^ inch 

 ' ('25 mm.) in diameter.' Mobius* states that in eels from 48-55 cm. in 

 length, procured from Holstein and Oland at the end of September 1884, 

 the greatest eggs in the ovaries, which were well developed, measured 

 •215 mm. In one female, which died in June 1885, an egg measuring 

 •277 mm. was found. Jourdain,f who studied the eggs of the eel in all 

 stages of development, found that the largest does not exceed , 25-*2 mm. 

 in diameter. Fulton J examined certain eels from Howietoun in May 1890. 

 The ovaries contained eggs which measured *25 mm. A ripe female which 

 was captured in a trawl in the English Channel, 20 miles from land, is 

 described by Calderwood.§ 1 The ovaries were pure white in colour, 

 1 and when touched crumbled away most easily. The ova were apparently 

 1 quite ready to drop from the outer surface of the ovary. Sections showed, 

 ' however, that in each ripening ovary the nuclear membrane was still dis- 

 i tinctly visible. The nucleoli were arranged round the periphery, smaller 

 1 bodies being found amongst the granular protoplasm of the nucleus. 

 ' The substance of the ovum itself was richly stored with oil globules 

 1 giving the characteristic appearance known in the conger's egg.' 



In the eels which were examined at St Andrews during February, 

 March, April, and May, the ova were found to vary in diameter from *045 

 -•27 mm. The different lengths of these eels, with the sizes of their 

 respective ova, are given in the following table : — 



Date. 



Length. 



Locality whence procured. 



Sizes of ova in mm. 



1895. 









Feb. 7 



25i in. (628 mm.) 



Found dead on the sands 



•09, -135, and -144. 





below Laboratory (pro- 

 bably came from the 

 harbour). 



II J » 



21£ in. (547 mm.) 

 20| in. (518 mm.) 



ii ii 



135. 



M 11 



ii »i 



•099--135. 



II II 



28^ in. (707 mm.) 



ii ii 



•18- -225, '27 (a few). 

 Average *18. 



II II 



31£ in. (796 mm.) 



From Estuary of Eden, 



„ 25 



12| in. (312 mm.) 



About '045. 





salt water. 





n i) 

 Mar. 5 



11| in. (287 mm.) 

 36£ in. (912 mm.) 



ii ii 



•18, and '225. 



From Loch Leven. 



>i ii 



3511 in. (895 mm.) 



n n 



•0675." 



Apr. 14 



\0\ in. (253 mm.) 



From the brackish water 



at a spring in the East 

 Cliffs. 





May 20 



19£ in. (487 mm.) 



Found dead near harbour. 



•135. 



„ 21 



36 in. (900 mm.) 



From Loch Leven. 



•135 (a few), -225--261. 



The smallest ova, *045 and "067 mm. in diameter, were found in three 

 eels, which measured less than 13 inches (325 mm.) in length. These 

 eggs were clear and transparent, having few oil globules scattered through 

 the yolk. In the remaining eels, of a length of from 19J-36J inches, the 

 ova, except in a few cases, were '135 mm. and more in diameter. All 

 the eggs in the same ovary do not have the same size. While the great 



* Fiinft Ber. Komm. Wiss. Untersuch. deutsch. Meere, 1887. 



t Jourdain, Note ' Sur l'Anguille,' presentee par M. Blanchard, Comptes Rendu s 

 Acad. Sc. Paris, t. 109, 1889. 



X Fulton, 'Migrations and Reproduction of Common Eel,' Eighth Ann. Report 

 Scottish Fishery Board, for year 1889. 



§ Calderwood, ' Freshwater Eel in Ripe Condition,' Annals & Mag. Nat. Hist. (6), 

 vol. xii., 1893. 

 O 



