Divers from the Native Diving Lanzarote school have recorded a specimen of leopard eel (Myrichthys pardalis), a species known as Carmelita in the Canary Islands, on El Jablillo beach in Costa Teguise in the middle of a dive. "It is not something abundant or seen daily but we do usually see it," diving instructor Josue Reyes tells La Voz.
This species that could well simulate a snake "is mostly nocturnal, so it is lucky to see it during the day," explains Reyes. This sighting, which was recorded during a diving baptism, took place at the end of last week in this tourist town of Costa Teguise.
At that moment, a group of divers were enjoying the water sport when this leopard eel came out of a hole in the sand. Normally, these types of excursions are usually contracted by people who do not know the marine life of the island, so they are not as surprised underwater as when the instructors tell them that it is something less frequent than it seems. "The surprise is when we get out of the water when we tell them," confesses the instructor of the diving academy that shared the video.
Carmelita is not the only marine animal that surprises a short distance from the coast and at shallow depths. In winter on this beach in Teguise you can see specimens of angel shark, a species in critical danger of extinction, or the Canarian stingrays, a species of manta ray.
"The most spectacular thing, starting with Carmelita, are the angel sharks at shallow depths, the Canarian stingray or the loggerhead turtle that we were able to see this year," says the instructor.
Josue Reyes explains that what is curious about this video of Carmelita in particular is that they caught her red-handed while hunting. This leopard eel feeds on small mollusks in the sandy area of Jablillo.
