160 
ZOOLOGY. 
Order 1. Opistho7ni, — In these fishes the ventral fins 
are either abdominal or wanting. The typical genus is 
Notocantlius, in which the body is elongated, with a pro- 
boscis-like snout. 
Order 2. Apodes (Eel). — The bi-anchial apertures are 
unusually small, and there are no ventral fins, while the 
body is very long, cylindrical, snake-like. The conger-eel 
{Conger oceanicits) ranges from Newfoundland to the West 
Indies. 
The common eel, Aoignilla aciitirostris (Fig. 203), occurs 
on both sides of the Atlantic, on the North American coast 
as far south as Cape Hatteras, and in inland rivers and 
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, sj)awning in the 
autumn and early winter at the mouth of rivers, and in 
harbors and estuaries in shallow water. By the end of the 
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 spawn at least before the 
second year, Le., when about twenty inches 1 j. Mr. 
Mather estimates that the ovary of an eel weighing six 
pounds when in spawn contains upwards of 9,000,000 
Order 3. Nematognathi (Catfish, Pouts, etc.). — The 
Fig. 203.— Common Eel, Anguilla acutirostria. 
eggs. 
