Ribbon Eel, Rhinomuraena quaesita Garman 1888
A Ribbon Eel , Rhinomuraena quaesita, at Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Source: Bernard Dupont / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
This striking eel with enormous nostrils is the only moray to undergo abrupt colour changes as it grows. Small juveniles are jet black and develop a yellow dorsal fin. Males are bright blue with a yellow snout, lower jaw and dorsal fin. Females are yellow with a black anal fin and sometimes blue posterior coloration.
Video of Ribbon Eels in SE Asia.
A male Ribbon Eel swimming over a reef.
A juvenile Ribbon Eel swimming at Kankadya in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Ribbon Eel, Rhinomuraena quaesita Garman 1888
More Info
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Distribution |
Recorded in Australia from Central Western Australia to the Northwest Shelf and Ashmore Reef, WA, and the Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland; also Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean. Elsewhere, widespread in the tropical, Indo-west Pacific. Inhabits in burrows in sandy or rubble areas adjacent to coral reefs. |
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Biology |
Ribbon eels are sequential hermaphrodites, and change sex from male to female during their life cycle. |
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Species Citation |
Rhinomuraena quaesita Garman, 1888, Bull. Essex Inst. 20: 114. Type locality: |
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Author |
Dianne J. Bray |
Ribbon Eel, Rhinomuraena quaesita Garman 1888
References
Allen, G.R. 1996. New records of reef and shore fishes from northwestern Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 18: 109-112.
Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island Natural History Association, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, 6798, Australia. 197 pp.
Böhlke, E.B. & McCosker, J.E. 2001. The moray eels of Australia and New Zealand, with the description of two new species (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae). Records of the Australian Museum 53: 71-102 figs 1-10
Böhlke, E.B., McCosker, J.E. & Smith, D.G. 1999. Family Muraenidae. pp. 1643-1657 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068.
Garman, S. 1888. An eel from the Marshall Islands. Bulletin of the Essex Institute 20: 114-116 1 fig.
Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. 433 pp.
Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.
Russell, B.C. 1983. Annotated checklist of the coral reef fishes in the Capricorn-Bunker group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Special Publication Series 1: 1-184 figs 1-2
Sadovy de Mitcheson, Y. & M. Liu. 2008. Functional hermaphroditism in teleosts. Fish Fish. 9(1): 1-43.
