Reproduction

Mating and Reproduction

• Male and female ribbon eels encounter each other only for mating.
They mate when the water is the warmest. Females lay leaf-shaped
eggs and die within a month. The eggs keep on floating in the ocean
for around 8 weeks before hatching.
Life Cycle
Life-Cycle
• A Ribbon Eel will always begin life as a male then change sex when
they reach maturity and need to reproduce. This extraordinary eel
will also change colour when it changes sex. The males are mostly
blue with a stripe of yellow along their back and on their dorsal fin,
whereas females are completely yellow. As juveniles, they are
completely black.
Male Ribbon Eel Female Ribbon Eel