Creature Feature – Ribbon Eel
This week is the letter ‘R’, and today’s featured creature is the Ribbon Eel.
Ribbon eels are a species of moray eel, also known as the leaf-nosed moray eel or bernis eel. Juvenile ribbon eels are black with a yellow dorsal fin, when they reach adult hood males then become vibrant blue with a yellow face and females either all yellow or yellow with some blue on their posterior.
Taxonomy
Scientific Name: Rhinomuraena quaesita
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Muraenidae
Genus: Rhinomuraena
Ribbon Eel Fact File
Size: Males 65 – 94cm and Females up to 130cm
Distribution: Tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Ocean in shallow lagoons and coral reefs
Diet: Small fish and crustaceans, they possess two sets of jaws: one oral jaw that captures the prey and a pharyngeal jaw that moves it from their mouth down into their oesophagus
Behaviour: Found in burrows and crevices, emerging at night to hunt
IUCN Status: Least Concern
