What is "mormyrinae"

The subfamily Mormyrinae contains all but one of the genera of the African freshwater fish family Mormyridae in the order Osteoglossiformes. They live in muddy water. They are often called elephantfish due to a long protrusion below their mouths used to detect buried invertebrates that is suggestive of a tusk or trunk (some such as Marcusenius senegalensis gracilis are sometimes called Trunkfish though this term is usually associated with an unrelated group of fish). They can also be called tapirfish.

Fish in this subfamily have a high brain to body mass ratio due to an expanded cerebellum (called a gigantocerebellum) used in their electroperception. Linked to this they are notable for holding the zoological record at around 60% as the brains that consume the most energy as a percentage of the body's metabolic rate of any animal. Previous to this discovery, it was the “human brain, which had been thought to hold the record in this respect”. The human brain in comparison uses only 20%.

Mormyrinae is the largest subfamily in the Osteoglossiformes order with around 170 species.