THE ANIMAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 361 



raugiug- form they are known to Europeans generally as ]\Ioorish idols.* They 

 are quite common about the Hawaiian reefs, where their yellow bodies crossed 

 by broad black bands, and the long plume-like dorsal fin render them especially 

 conspicuous even among their brilliant and beautiful associates. 



MOKAYS. 



The morays - include an important group of Hawaiian fish that are distin- 

 guished from the true eels, with which they are closely related, by the presence 

 of the small round gill openings and by the absence of pectoral fins. i\Iany of 

 the species reach a large size and are extremely voracious and pugnacious. As 

 they are especially abundant in holes in the coral reefs and not infretjuently 

 spring out and bite the hand of even the experienced fisherman, it is just as well 

 for the stranger to bear them in mind when on wading expeditions. Too often 

 it has happened that underneath the most innocent looking tiat coral stone ex- 

 posed at low tide there has been hidden one of these snake-like fishes. If they 

 choose to do so they can resent any intrusion from the merely curious in an un- 

 expected and painful manner, that is long remembered by the offender. 



Six genera of morays have so far been identified from the waters about the 

 islands. Of the forty-two species of morays found here no fewer than eighteen 

 belong to the genus Gymnoiliomx. The puhi laumili * is one of the most com- 

 mon as well as most savage of these. They are not infrequently taken with large 

 fish in their stomachs, sometimes a fourth as long as the moray itself. It ranges 

 in length up to three feet or more, is variously mottled and naturally is much 

 feared by the natives. 



One of the fiercest of all the eel trilie is the moray known as |udii kapa,-* so 

 called because it is said to be victorious over all kinds of fish. In life it is a pale 

 greyish-white covered with irregular dark-brown areas with crome-yellow spots; 

 the bars between these areas, when present, are gray and brown. It is reported 

 by the natives that this eel goes ashore in the grass at night and will wigsie 

 back into the water when disturbed. 



The members of the order Apodes. to which the eel-like fishes be!onu-, are 

 very well represented in Hawaii, there being several dozen species, that usually 

 differ one from the other only by slight characteristics. Most of the larger species 

 are much iised as food by the Hawaiians. The fiesh of the morays, however, is 

 oily and not readily digested and on the whole is not so wholesome as the flesh 

 of the true eels. 



The ]\Iackerel Famh.y. 



Eight species of the mat-l^erel family '' occur in Hawaiian waters, inchuling 

 representatives of the frigate-mackerel, little tuiiiiies, ocean bonitu, Altiacores 

 and Petos. The opelu, or true mackerel,'' the aku. oi- ocean tionitn." and the ahi,* 

 all belong to different genera in the mackerel famil.\-. They all rove the sea, 

 usually in large schools, and have a wide range. "While they ditfer in outline 

 considerably, in the different genera, they are all "mackerel-shaped" and are 



1 ZaiicUdil: - M in;r„i,t,r. ' G!/mnothora:L- 11111I11I11I11.1. < Erinilna iirhuhmu. 



^ Scotubridw. " Sfnnhyr jaitouirus. ' (I ymnomyda i>fUtwin. ^ Ufrmo fjfrmn. 



