Brilliant blue, yellow or black body, curled like a ribbon, with a yellow dorsal fin, mouth and eyes. Large leaf-shaped nostrils. Males are blue, females yellow, and juveniles start out black.

Least concern according to the IUCN Red list. It has a wide distribution and is common in parts of it. Although there is some threat of harvesting for aquaria, it does not have a significant impact on the global population.

It can be found in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, from East Africa to New Caledonia, Japan to Australia. It inhabits sandy burrows and rubble of lagoons and coastal and seaward reefs, in a depth range of 1-57 meters.

This is the only moray that undergoes abrupt changes in coloration and sex. It is a protandrous hermaphrodite, i.e., functioning males reverse sex to become females. Protandry is diagnosed based on colouration, but not confirmed.