Volume 39, Plate XV / Ichthyology (Fish)

Sharp-Nosed Eel & Common Conger Eel

Anguilla acutirostris & Conger vulgaris

1. Sharp-Nosed Eel. Regarded as the Common Eel and inhabiting all our fresh waters, ranging widely through Europe, Asia, and America, the Sharp-Nosed Eel migrates seaward in autumn to brackish water, is oviparous, voracious, and so tenacious of life that it can travel over land by night. Taken by eel-bucks and spears, it is much eaten though oily and indigestible, and may reach five or six feet and twenty pounds.
2. Common Conger Eel. Occurring frequently all around Britain and Ireland, the Common Conger Eel is a large marine species sometimes exceeding ten feet and a hundred pounds, though ordinarily five to seven feet, devouring great quantities of fish, crabs, and shellfish with strong crushing jaws and spawning in December or January. Though its flesh is little praised, it is much used and often dried for export, the chief fishery being on the Cornish coast.