The Ribbon eel is one of the strangest creatures in the world as it resembles the mythical Chinese dragon consisting of a long and thin body with high dorsal fins. These are usually found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, ranging from East Africa to southern Japan and Australia.
The creature is known for changing its colour three times during its lifetime. It also changes its gender accordingly. The baby Ribbon eels are found to be black with yellow dorsal fins. As they grow old, the male adult appears in blue while the females are entirely yellow with a tinge of blue towards the posterior part. Netizens are shocked to discover this unimaginable ability of the creature. The video of the colour change by the Ribbon eel is now going viral.
The video of the creature has been posted on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) by a user who goes by the name of Massimo on this social media platform. This page is known for posting pictures and videos related to tech, art, science and weather. He tweeted, “When a ribbon eel adult male reaches full size, it begins to turn into a female changing its colour to yellow.” Watch the the video here:
When a ribbon eel adult male reaches full size, it begins to turn into a female changing its color to yellow [read more: https://t.co/nhKCzki0Io] [source of the clip: https://t.co/kFK8uAgKEM]pic.twitter.com/0kupQVhvgi
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 9, 2023
The strangest fact about Ribbon eels is that they are born males and later become females. They also lay eggs after changing their genders. In the video, it could be seen that the Ribbon eel is changing colour as it moves in the ocean. The creature which appeared to be blue changed its colour to yellow, in the last part of the video. This confirms the speculation of the creature’s possible gender and colour-change ability.
After watching the video, the netizens were shocked to discover this strange phenomenon. While some appreciated this ability of the creature others bestowed the amazing diversity of nature.
Nature is amazing— Tom Tom (@Thomas35797795) June 9, 2023
One of the users also shared his experience of this creature.
Used to have those in the aquarium store I worked in. Always on the move.— Thirty Foot Smurf⚾️♋️ (@goodapplejokes) June 10, 2023
This unexplained ability of Ribbon eel is still not confirmed by the scientist. The colour change is evident in the video but how it impacts their gender, is still unknown.