Ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita)

Mar 12, 2023 News

=Interesting creature=

Kaieteur News – Ribbon eels or blue ribbon eels as they are commonly known is one of the most attractive sea creatures found in lagoons or coastal reefs throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Blue Ribbon eel

As the name suggests, it is a very colourful animal with a small dragon-like head and a long elegant body that looks like a ribbon when swimming in the ocean. These animals are actually a species of moray eel and depending on the stage of the ribbon eel’s life it may appear black, blue and or yellow.

The young ones according to scientists are jet black, while an adult male is blue and yellow. Females are bright orange. They grow to one meter in length and can live up to 20 years in the wild. Many persons capture these eels for aquariums but sadly they rarely survive longer than one month in captivity.

It is clear why this so, but scientists have observed that ribbon eels stop eating when they are in captivity. Some persons, however, trained in rearing saltwater sea creatures have gotten ribbon eels to survive as long as two years in captivity.

One other interesting fact about this creature is that some marine biologists believe that the creature might be hermaphrodites.

According to some biologists, after the male’s body reaches a certain length, it begins to turn yellow and will develop female parts until it is able to lay eggs. Others however, said this cannot be confirmed.

Apart from this, not much is known about the ribbon eel’s way of life in the ocean.

Source of information (https://reefbuilders.com/2020/08/10/creature-feature-ribbon-eel/)

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