THE FISHES OF NEW JERSEY. 128 
Posterior nostril near eye, anterior near tip of snout with short 
tube. Gill-opening rather large, low. Dorsal inserted about first 
fifth in length of body. Color brown, paler below. Confluent 
dorsal, caudal and anal pale brown with a narrow black margin. 
Pectoral pale brown. Length 11% inches. Atlantic City. 
I have but 2 small examples from the above locality. It is 
said to reach a length of 8 feet and be a food-fish of importance. 
A large example is in the Wistar Institute of Anatomy in Phila- 
delphia received from Sea Isle City. Dr. Dahlgren reports 2 
or 3, about 6 feet long, taken with tautog-bait on rocky bottom 
off Avon. 
Conger conger Bean, Bull. U. S. F. Com., 1887, p. 150.— 
Smith, Bull. U. S. F. Com. XII, 1892, p. 369. 
Conger occidentalis Baird, 9th An. Rep. Smiths. Inst., 1854, 
p- 351.—Abbott, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 825. 
Tsognatha oceanica Abbot, 1. c. 
Family MURAENIDE. 
The Morays. 
Head conic. Jaws usually narrow and armed with knife-like, 
or else molar, teeth. Occipital region elevated through develop- 
ment of muscles moving lower jaw. Opercular apparatus fully 
developed. Branchial apertures lateral, small and round. Eth- 
moid bone long and wide. Interbranchial slits restricted. Bran- 
chial skeleton very imperfect, and fourth branchial arch modified, 
strengthened and supporting pharyngeal jaws. Body and fins 
covered with a thick leathery scaleless skin. Diversified vertical 
fins. Pectoral normally absent. 
Morays inhabit tropical and subtropical waters, especially in 
the rocks about coral reefs. Many are very voracious and 
pugnacious. They reach a large size and are strikingly colored. 
The form here recorded, evidently a waif from tropical waters 
in the Gulf Stream. 
