The Ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita) is commonly found in Lembeh but it’s more unusual to see them out and swimming when they’re looking at their best! Ribbon eels are a type of moray eel, the only member of their genus and also the only protandric moray eel. This means they are able to change sex throughout their lifetime! Every ribbon eel is born male and black in colour and as they mature they develop the distinctive blue body colour which is so mesmerizing as they swim and also denotes a male.
A ribbon eel has a lifespan of up to 20 years and they feed on a carnivorous diet of small fish. Once they reach their maximum length of 1 metre they are able to change their sex and become female. Females are easy to spot as they’re bright yellow all over but hard to find. Once the ribbon eel has changed to female it will mate, lay eggs and die within about a month. This is why yellow ribbon eels are a rarer find than black or blue!
We’ve had some amazing guests in Two Fish Divers Lembeh Resort over Christmas including Jenn, an incredible underwater photographer who’s been out hunting critters everyday. A well-deserved shoutout to Yin who is following in his sister’s (and now dive buddy’s) footsteps and completed both his PADI Open Water Course and Advanced Open Water Course with instructor Dan. What an awesome way to spend Christmas! We have also visited the magical dive sites of Bangka island on a day trip where we found a mototi octopus, lots of nudis, giant frogfish and 3 big reef octopus hiding among the beautiful coral. We returned to our favourite muck sites on Christmas Day and were treated to a second mototi octopus!
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We look forward to welcoming you to explore Lembeh with us soon!
