COMMON EEL. 
1027 
anal fin, which in front shows the colour of the belly. 
The yellow tint of the belly is characteristic of the 
young and of the Eels that lead a somewhat stationary 
life among the seaweed on the coast, or in the mud 
and among the grass of the lakes. The white belly 
belongs to the migration uniform, the spawning-dress 
of the Eels®. The back is darkest, sometimes even 
black, in the migrating males. Among colour-varieties 
there have been observed light specimens, almost yel- 
lowish green on the back, and irregularly spotted fish, 
with light, clouded spots on the dorsal side or with 
“dorsal streaks of a golden yellow” (Benecke). Albi- 
nos have also been found 6 . 
In the basin of the Atlantic the Eel is dispersed 
between the latitudes of the West Indies and of Nor- 
Avegian Finmark, and from the United States eastAvards 
over North Africa and throughout Europe, including 
the regions drained by the Baltic and the Mediterra- 
nean, but, strange to say", originally with the exception 
of the Black and Caspian Seas and their feeders. Fa- 
bricius mentions it among the fishes of Southern Green- 
land, and even Olafsen d kneAV it from Iceland, Avhere 
according to Faber, hoAvever, its length seldom exceeds 
U /2 ft-! but from the Arctic seas and rivers it is else 
unknown. Within the basin of the Pacific it is found 
in Japan, China, Formosa, Borneo, and, according to 
Gunther, Ncav Zealand. The geographical range of the 
Eel is thus one of the most extensive; but the gaps 
— its absence, for instance, from the Avest coast of 
North America — are difficult to explain. 
In Scandinavia the Eel becomes rarer and rarer 
inland and toAvards the north. Solitary specimens have 
indeed been found in the Fjords of Varanger and Tana; 
but into the innermost parts of Finland the Eel does 
not penetrate, and in Stveden, as avcII as in Norway, 
it seldom, if ever, ascends into the mountain-regions. 
On the Norwegian coast it is common, according to 
Collett, up to Lofoden, rarer on the coast of Finmark 
further north, and in Exaavand, a lake in Bjellerud 
(P rovince of Christiansand), it has been met Avith at a 
height of 1,600 feet (500 m.) above the sea-level". The 
Eel occurs in every province of Sweden, but to the far 
north only on the seaboard. Widegren described in 
1860 the Eel-fishery of the lower Lulea Elf and the 
islands at its mouth. From the basin of the Angerman 
Elf Trybom 9 Avas told that Eels Avere found in Lake 
Malgomaj, situated 356 m. above the level of the sea; 
and according to Olsson the Eel ascends to the neigh- 
bourhood of Gaddede, on Qvarnberg Water, near the 
Nonvegian frontier. In the basin of the Ljunga, accord- 
ing to Olsson, it has been found on rare occasions in 
Herjeadalens Storsjo, 363 m. above the sea-level. In 
Southern SAveden, as in Denmark, the Eel is common 
in rivers, lakes, and meres, Avherever it can find a con- 
genial haunt. Throughout the basin of Lake Wener, 
however, it is said to have been wanting 9, previous to 
the construction of the Trollhatte Canal, Avhen the Eel- 
fry made their Avay through the locks up the fall. 
The Eel is tenacious of life and supple of body, 
adapting itself to the most confined abode and the most 
meagre circumstances; but in order to attain any con- 
siderable size it requires abundant food and ample space. 
It reminds us strongly of the snakes in its nocturnal 
habits and its fondness for hiding in holes or burroAving 
in the soft bottom. Like the viper it gathers in large 
bunches — “ Icigger sig i vret ,,h says the SAA r edish fisher- 
man. To these serpent-like traits is allied its poAver of 
sustaining life for a long time out of the Avater: just as 
the common snake is partly an aquatic animal, the Eel 
can traverse considerable distances by land. Its serpen- 
tine, wriggling movements enable it to make rapid pro- 
gress though the water, so as speedily to find a hiding- 
place; and its great poAver of muscle endoAvs it Avith 
great endurance during its rovings in the sea ; but it 
seems to rank among the sluggish fishes, and by nature 
belongs to the ground-SAvimmers. “Slippery as an Eel,” 
“ Cf. F. H. T. Leth: lakttagelser over Aalene, Dansk Fiskeritidende 1882, p. 393. 
Feddersen, Dansk Fiskeritidende, 1891, p. 395. 
0 The Eel’s original absence from the basin of the Danube — where it has been planted in recent times, and seems to thrive, having 
voluntarily spread to the Black Sea and the lower courses of the Russian rivers — may perhaps be explained by a comparison witli the equally 
singular presence in the Danube of the Huch (see Smitt, Riksrn. Salmonider , p. 148). The Eel is wanting in Siberia, being compelled to 
enter salt water in order to breed, and incapable of enduring the cold of the Arctic Ocean, into which the Siberian rivers fall; and the same 
ancient configuration of the ocean as enabled the Siberian Huch to spread to the basin of the Danube may have cut off the advance of the 
Eel in this direction. 
a Reise igiennem Island (1772), vol. I, p. 594. 
e In the Swiss Alps, according to Fatio ( Fne Vert. Suisse, vol. V, p. 458), the Eel ascends to an elevation about twice as great. 
. f Nord. Aarsskr. Fisk., l:ste Aarg. (1884), p. 306. 
9 See Lloyd, Scand. Ada., vol. I, p. 143, and Nilss., Skand. Fna , Fisk., p. 675, note. 
h Vret is probably connected with vrida , to writhe, twist. Tr. 
