=Suborder Colocephali, or Morays.=—In the suborder _Colocephali_ (κολός, deficient; κεφαλή, head) the palatopterygoid arch and the membrane-bones generally are very rudimentary. The skull is thus very narrow, the gill-structures are not well developed, and in the chief family there are no pectoral fins. This group is very closely related to the _Enchelycephali_, from which it is probably derived. [Illustration: FIG. 111.—Jaws of _Nemichthys avocetta_ Jordan & Gilbert. ] In the great family of morays (_Murænidæ_) the teeth are often very highly developed. The muscles are always very strong and the spines bite savagely, a live moray being often able to drive men out of a boat. The skin is thick and leathery, and the coloration is highly specialized, the pattern of color being often elaborate and brilliant. In _Echidna zebra_ for example the body is wine-brown, with cross-stripes of golden yellow. In _Muræna_ each nostril has a barbel. _Muræna helena_, the oldest moray known, is found in Europe. In _Gymnothorax_, the largest genus, only the anterior nostrils are thus provided. _Gymnothorax mordax_ of California is a large food-fish, as are also the brown _Gymnothorax funebris_ and the spotted _Gymnothorax moringa_ in the West Indies. These and many other species may coil themselves in crevices in the reefs, whence they strike out at their prey like snakes, taking perhaps the head of a duck or the finger of a man. In many of the morays the jaws are so curved and the mouth so filled with knife-like teeth that the jaws cannot be closed. This fact, however, renders no assistance to their prey, as the teeth are adapted for holding as well as for cutting. In _Enchelynassa bleekeri_, a huge wine-colored eel of the South Seas, the teeth are larger than in any other species. _Evenchelys_ (_macrurus_) is remarkable for its extraordinary length of tail, _Echidna_ for its blunt teeth, and _Scuticaria_, _Uropterygius_, and _Channomuræna_ for the almost complete absence of fins. In _Anarchias_ (_allardicei_; _knighti_), the anal fin is absent. The flesh of the morays is rather agreeable in taste, but usually oily and not readily digestible, less wholesome than that of the true eels. [Illustration: FIG. 112.—_Muræna retifera_ Garman. Charleston, S. C. ] The _Myrocongridæ_ are small morays with developed pectoral fins. The species are few and little known.