The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-09-25
A TIGER EEL.
Formidable Monster Captured in
Puget Sound,
Asnako's Body,a Bulldogs Head
and a Tigers Fangs

ltoiy elhaslHeN Aa Tiger eel hnH pteh
captured in Puget sound aud brought
20 Tacoma, Wash. for exhibition. The
monster is nine feet two inches long,
aud a most formidable-lookiug OBJ
iect It has tho body like that Of the
snake, a head like that Of a bulldog
and tho fangs Of a tiger. Aside from
its dead mate. and q small one on
board the United States Fish Com
mission steamer Albatross. caught
some time ago, its like, so far as can
be learned, has never before been en-
countered in tho waters OF the
Pacihc.
The body is spotted aud ribbed like
that OF a rattlesnake while It's moye-
ments are like all cells, serpentine in
character. At the neck it is about as
thick as a large mans thigh, gradually
tapering to a point at the tail. The
under jaw is wrinked and heavy, aud
its general build indicates that il is
capable Of exerting tremendous
strength in its native element It is
filmed somewhat like a haibut, having
a dorsal fin the entire length Of its
yertebrae, while underneath is sim
liar fin extending from thestomach to
the tail. Back of the gills are two
side fins, about three inches long.
The eyes are as large rs q mans, aud
very bright They follow the move
ments Of person as closely as the
eyes Ola cat follow a mouse, aud with
out the slightest movement of the
head. The general color is darkish
blue, the spots fading into lighter
blue underneath The skin is smooth.
1t was caught in Hoods canal by r.
Z. Mclean and W. J. Kennedy, two
fishermen, who in all their years Of
fishing, never made or saw such a cap
ture. They were fishing for black
bass at Chase's rock, near the mouth
of the Humi-humi river, where a ledge
drops straight down into water $50
feet deep. They we're batting with
minnows There was tremendous
jerk on one of their lines and in a
moment they found that something
much larger than bass had been
caught. This was the female of the
strange species now being exhibited. 1t
struggled tiercely, but was finally towed
ashore, where, after another struggle,
it was dragged upon the beach, To
preserve it they got 1O0-foot line
and fatening it through the gill, lari-
ated it out on the shore. When
dragged upon the beach the big eel
would rush back over the sand and
swim out to sea as far as the line
would allow. There is swish in the
air as it swings its tail and darts ahead
with tremendous speed.
1t is as ferocious as tiger. The
struggles of the female when first
caught attracted the attention of her
mate, which rode to the surface and
attacked the boat. 1t had to be struck
on the head repeatedly with an oar.
After tying the female MCLEAN and
Kennedy went back and hooked the
male, The bull made a desperate
struggle. An oar was snapped in two
by its powerful jaws in second, and
a steel gaff, which was thrust through
his gill into his mouth was bitten al
most in two. So deeply was it indented
that when taken from his mouth il
was easily pulled in two by one OF the
fishermen.
The male was nearly nine feet long,
similar to the female, but with larger
and more ferocious head. It was also
drawn ont of the water with a lariat,
but died a week after its capture from
injuries inflicted by the oar and gaf
hook, The animals jaws are set with
rows of sharp, curved teeth, like those
OF cat, and the strength of the jaw
enables it to sink its fangs to the bas,
in a stick of wood. Each OF thes,
powerful cells possesses a quantity o
heavy molars, elliptioal-shaped auc
fitting closely into each other. In tn,
stomach OF the male was found
small quantity Of kelp, showing tn
species to be at least partly herbivor-
GUS, as the molars would also indi,
cate