Weedy sea dragon

The weedy sea dragon or common sea dragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, is a marine fish related to the seahorse. It is the only member of the genus Phyllopteryx. It is found in water 3 to 50 m deep around the south coast of Australia, from Port Stephens, New South Wales to Geraldton, Western Australia. It also found in the waters around Tasmania. Weedy sea dragons are named for the weed-like growth on their bodies. This camouflage hides them as they move among the seaweed beds where they live. The weedy sea dragon is the aquatic emblem for the state of Victoria.

 Description 
Weedy sea dragons can reach 45 cm in length. They feed on tiny crustaceans and other zooplankton, which they suck into the end of their long tube-like nose. Their tail cannot wrap around and hold on to things the way a seahorse can.  They swim in shallow reefs and weed beds, and look like weeds drifting over bare sand.

 Breeding 
Sea dragons, seahorses and pipe fish are the only species where the male carries the eggs. The male carries the fertilized eggs, joined under his tail. They stay there for about eight weeks until they hatch. The young can look after themselves as soon as they are born.  Breeding sea dragons in captivity is difficult because scientists do not know what makes them breed in the wild. To make them breed, carers in the Melbourne Aquarium had to change the water temperature and lighting to copy the places where wild weedy sea dragons live.

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, Melbourne Aquarium in Australia, and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are the only places in the world to have bred weedy sea dragons, though others have been able to get them to lay eggs.

 Leafy sea dragons 
A relative of the weedy sea dragon is the leafy sea dragon Phycodurus eques. In the November 2006, the National Geographic magazine, reported that marine biologist Greg Rouse is looking at the DNA of the two sea dragon species.

 References 



 Other websites 
 Australian Museum Online - Leafy and Weedy Seadragons
 Leafy Seadragons and Weedy Seadragons 
 Weedy Sea Dragon Monitoring Program in Botany Bay 
 Leafy Sea Dragon Festival 
 Weedy Sea Dragon 
 Youtube Male Weedy Seadragon with eggs
 Youtube Weedy Seadragon
 Male Weedy Sea Dragon carrying eggs 

Category:Fish of Australia
Category:Syngnathiformes