MYSTERY OF THE EEL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2574, 1 May 1923, Page 4

MYSTERY OF THE EEL.

Until recent years the early life of European and American eels was a mystery. It was known that at different periods of their existence they migrated to and from the sea, sometimes crossing considerable stretches of dry land in their journey, and for 20 years it has been known that they pass the earlier stages of life in the depths of tropical waters. After 'long and patient investigations, a Danish scientist, Dr. Joseph Schmidt, has discovered their breeding place in the neighbourhood of Bermuda and the West Indian Islands. The breeding grounds of the American and the European eels, which are two distinct species, are contiguous, and indeed overlap, though the American eel ranges somewhat further north in its deep-sea home than its European cousin. The American eel completes the lavae stage in about one year, when it must migrate to fresh water. The European eel requires three full years to complete its larvae development, and during this period makes its way slowly across the whole breadth of the Atlantic to the coastal waters of the farther continent. No other fish or animal in the laiwe stage makes such an enormous journey. Like the salmon, the eel passes successive stages of its life in salt and fresh water, spending its maturity in lakes and rivers accessible from the sea or in brakish water along the shore. This sojourn ranges from five to 20 years, after which the eel returns to the deep-sea regions of its birth to produce its young.