Of eels a few here and there feed on mud and on chance morsels
of food thrown to them; the greater part of them subsist on fresh
water. Eel-breeders are particularly careful to have the water kept
perfectly clear, by its perpetually flowing on to flat slabs of
stone and then flowing off again; sometimes they coat the eel-tanks
with plaster. The fact is that the eel will soon choke if the water is
not clear as his gills are peculiarly small. On this account, when
fishing for eels, they disturb the water. In the river Strymon
eel-fishing takes place at the rising of the Pleiads, because at
this period the water is troubled and the mud raised up by contrary
winds; unless the water be in this condition, it is as well to leave
the eels alone. When dead the eel, unlike the majority of fishes,
neither floats on nor rises to the surface; and this is owing to the
smallness of the stomach. A few eels are supplied with fat, but the
greater part have no fat whatsoever. When removed from the water
they can live for five or six days; for a longer period if north winds
prevail, for a shorter if south winds. If they are removed in summer
from the pools to the tanks they will die; but not so if removed in
the winter.
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