The Brill closely resembles the turbot not only in general form, but in the numerical superiority of the females, and in the habits of the young, which, like the turbot, are surface-feeders and possess an air-bladder.
CHAPTER X.
EELS AND CAT-FISHES.
BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.
Eels, like flat-fishes, show plainly, in the shape of their bodies, a remarkably perfect adaptation to their environment. They are burrowing fishes, passing much of their time buried in the mud, and leaving little more than the head exposed. In accordance with this habit, the body is very long and round, and lacks both the hinder paired fins, and scales. When swimming, the body is propelled by rapid undulations, the movement being from side to side, it may be remarked, instead of up and down, as in the "serpentine" movements of snakes.
Whether all the fishes commonly regarded as eels really belong to this family or not is a moot-point. It is possible that the eel shape has been independently acquired by unrelated forms as a result of adaptation to a similar mode of life. But as the group now stands it embraces several distinct types,—the Common Fresh-water Eels; numerous marine species, such as Congers, Serpent-eels, Deep-sea Eels, and Painted Eels; and the fresh-water Electric Eels.
Photo by N. Lazarnick] [New York.
EELS.