Rhinomuraena quaesita

FAMILY

Muraenidae

TAXONOMY

Rhinomuraena quaesita Garman, 1888, Marshall Islands.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Ribbon eel, black ribbon eel; French: Rhinomurène noire; Samoan: Pusi.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

May reach 51.2 in (130 cm) in length. It has a very elongated body. Mature males are mostly blue, whereas mature females

are almost completely yellow. They have three fleshy tentacles on the tip of the lower jaw; a single fleshy, pointed projection at the tip of the snout; and tubular anterior nostrils ending in gaudy, fanlike expansions.

DISTRIBUTION

Indo-Pacific from East Africa in the west to the Tuamotu Archipelago in the east and from southern Japan in the north to New Caledonia and French Polynesia in the south, including the Marianas and Marshall Islands in Micronesia.

HABITAT

Lagoons and associated seaward reefs as deep as 180 ft (60 m).

BEHAVIOR

Secretive, nonmigratory species that normally hides in sand or rubble, sometimes with only its head protruding.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Feeds on small fishes.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Fertilization in this species is external. This may be the only moray that undergoes abrupt changes in coloration and sex. It is classified as a protandrous hermaphrodite, that is, functioning males reverse sex to become females.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not listed by the IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

It is acquired for display in aquaria because of its striking coloration and unusual morphological features.