One of Hawaii's Holy Grail's - The Dragon!

[rgbmatt]

rgbmatt; right now we just refer to the pale one as the older one because it is the larger one. We of course speculate that the more colorful one is male, but how would we really find out while leaving them relatively undisturbed in the wild.

The only sure way to tell would be to catch both eels and dissect them, which I'm sure nobody wants to do! I've seen pale and colorful dragons of all sizes, so it doesn't seem like it's an age thing.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I've seen pale and colorful dragons of all sizes, so it doesn't seem like it's an age thing.

What I said was we consider the "big" one to be the "older" one; nothing to do with color.

 

[blesi varney]

That's probably true. I read somewhere that as they get older and bigger they lose some of their coloring.

 

[scottitheduck]

Hmmm...

It seems to me that the handful of Dragon's I have seen over the years are certainly brighter when they are younger. I found this online in regards to coloration....

Speaking of Dragons. Thanks to whomever destroyed the 10 square foot patch of reef on the pipe to get at our resident dragon. I'm sure your aquarium is the envy of all your geeky aquarium friends.

Sorry, just had to vent a bit....

You will never hear me reveal the locations of the others!

G

 

[rgbmatt]

The largest dragon eels I've seen were also the most colorful... I suspect there's just a lot of variation in the species that has little to do with age/size.

It's a shame to hear about somebody busting coral at the pipe. I'm a fish collector, and this sort of thing just makes me mad! Please be aware that this sounds like an isolated incident, and doesn't reflect how real aquarium fishermen work. Taking fish from recreational dive sites is strictly taboo, as is breaking coral (which is also illegal). The last thing we want to do is wreck peoples' dive spots - what goes around comes around, especially when you live on an island.

Don't worry - I'm not going to catch any of the eels at your spots. Probably shouldn't post the exact location on the internet, though.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Probably shouldn't post the exact location on the internet, though.

This is good advise for guides especially; if we give exact locations to the really cool stuff who will we guide