68 
BULLETIN OE THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Family VIII. ANGUILEID/E. The True Eels. 
The true eels are characterized by their scaly skin in association with a conical head and a 
general resemblance to the congers. 
Genus 9. ANGUILLA Shaw. 
Bod}' elongate, compressed behind, covered with embedded linear scales placed obliquely, some 
at right angles to others. Lateral line well developed. Head long, conical, moderately pointed, the 
rather small eye well forward and over angle of mouth. Teeth small, subequal, in bands on each jaw 
and a long patch on vomer. Tongue free at tip. Lips rather full, with free margin behind, attached 
by a frenum in front. Lower jaw projecting. Gill-openings rather small, slit-like, about as wide as 
base of pectorals and partly below them. Nostrils superior, well separated, the anterior with a slight 
tube. Vent close in front of anal. Dorsal inserted at some distance from head, confluent with anal 
around tail. Pectoral well developed. 
Found in most warm seas (the eastern Pacific excepted), ascending streams, but mostly spawning 
in the sea. They often move for a considerable distance on land, in damp grass, and in this way pass 
waterfalls, dams, and other obstructions. It is thought that they spawn only in the sea, the female 
dying after having once produced ova. The females are larger than the males, paler in color, with 
smaller eyes and higher fins. Eels are among the most voracious of fishes. “On their hunting excur- 
sions they overturn alike huge and small stones, beneath which they find species of shrimp and crawfish, 
of which they are excessively fond. Their noses are poked into every imaginable hole in their search 
for food, to the terror of innumerable small fishes.” 
11. Anguilla chrysypa Rafinesque. “ Anguilla”; Common Eel. 
(Plate 1.) 
Head 3.2 in trunk; depth 5.8; eye 1.8 in snout; snout 5.5 in head; interorbital 5.4. 
Body elongate, compressed behind, covered with linear embedded scales obliquely placed in 
groups, the scales of which are at right angles to those of adjoining groups; lateral line well developed; 
head long, conic, pointed; eye situated over angle of mouth; lower jaw projecting; fine conic teeth in 
bands on each jaw and on vomer; the gill-openings are vertical slits in front of and partly below pectoral ; 
dorsal inserted far back of head, but considerably in front of vent; anal commencing shortly behind 
vent, confluent with dorsal around the tail, forming a caudal fin. 
Atlantic coast of the United States, and Mississippi Valley; abundant from Maine to Mexico, 
ascending all rivers south of Canada and east of the Rocky Mountains. Common in the West Indies 
and highly valued as a food-fish. It is caught in considerable numbers in Porto Rico in the small 
bamboo traps or “nasas” set in the small rivers. 
Six examples, the smallest 4 inches long, the largest over 2 feet, from San Juan market and Baya- 
mon River at Bayamon, the smallest one from the sea at Mayaguez. 
Anguilla chrysypa Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag. and Crit. Rev. 1817, 120, Lake George; Hudson River; Lake Champlain; 
Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 348, 1896. 
Anguilla blephura Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag. and Crit. Rev. 1817, 120, Long Island. 
Anguilla laticauda Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag. and Crit. Rev. 1817, 445, Ohio River. 
Anguilla aterrima Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 78, 1820, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. 
Anguilla xanlhomelas Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 78, 1820, Ohio River. 
Anguilla lutca Rafinesque, Ich. Ohiensis, 78, 1820, Ohio River. 
Murxna rostrata Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci Phila. 1821, 81, Cayuga Lake, New York. 
Murxna bostoniensis Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1821, 81, Boston. 
Murxna serpentina Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1821, 82, Newport, Ii. I. 
Murxna macrocephala Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1821, 82, Saratoga, N. Y. 
Murxna argcntea Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1821, 82, Boston Bay. 
Anguilla lenuiroslris Do Kay, Fishes New York, 310, 1842, New York. 
Anguilla novxorleanevsis Kaup, Apodes, 43, fig. 33, 1856, New Orleans, La. 
Anguilla pundatissima Kaup, Apodes, 44, 1856, Niagara River. 
Anguilla cubana Kaup, Apodes, 44, 1856, Cuba. 
Anguilla novxterrce Kaup, Apodes, 45, fig, 35, 1856, Newfoundland. 
Anguilla tezana Kaup, Apodes, 45, fig. 36, 1856, Texas. 
Anguilla wabashensis Kaup, Apodes, 46, 1856, Wabash River. 
Anguilla tyrannus Girard, U. S. and Mexican Bound. Surv., 75, 1859, Rio Grande. 
Murxna anguilla. Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riquena, 344,1881, 
Murxna cubana, Stahl, 1. e., 166, 1883. 
