Leafy Sea Dragon

Animal Unique | Leafy Sea Dragon | The Leafy sea dragon and Glauert's sea dragon is a fish in the family Syngnathidae, which also seahorses. It is the only member of the genus Phycodurus. Leafy sea dragon is only recorded from the southern coast of Australia, Kangaroo Island, South Australia to Rottnest Island, Western Australia. These seahorses live on the kelp-covered sand patches among rocks below the low tide line to depths of about 30 to 50 m. The name derives from the appearance, with long leaf-like protrusions coming from all parts of the body. These protrusions are not used for propulsion, they only serve as camouflage.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Actinopterygii
Order:     Syngnathiformes
Family:     Syngnathidae
Subfamily:     Syngnathinae
Genus:     Phycodurus, Gill, 1896
Species:     P. eques

The lobes of the skin that grow on the Leafy sea dragon provide camouflage, making it the appearance of seaweed. It is able to maintain the illusion while swimming appears to move through the water like a piece of floating seaweed. It can also change color to blend in, but this depends on the diet of the Seadragon, age, location and stress level. The creature has a long, pipe-like snout which it uses to feed. It captures prey with the help of his camouflage. Leafy sea dragon strangely enough have no teeth, which is rare in animals that eat small fish and shrimps.

The Leafy sea dragon has a long pipe-like snout with a small terminal mouth. It feeds on plankton, mysids and other small crustaceans. One of the most spectacular examples of camouflage: neither prey nor predators recognize it as a fish. Leafy sea dragons are subject to many threats, both natural and man-made. They are caught by collectors and used in alternative medicine. They are fragile when first born, and are slow swimmers, reducing their chance to escape a predator. Leafy sea dragon are often washed up after the storms, unlike its relative the seahorse, Leafy sea dragon can not hold their tails curl and sea grass to stay safe.

Unlike seahorses, Leafy sea dragons do not have a pouch for rearing the young. In the female at Leafy sea dragon are ready to receive eggs from the female, the lower half of the tail on the male appears wrinkled. The bright pink eggs are embedded in the cups of the brood patch, receiving oxygen via the cups' blood vessels. During each breeding season, male green sea dragons will hatch two batches of eggs. After a period of about 4-6 weeks from conception, the male 'gives birth' to young miniature versions of the sea dragons. 2-3 days after birth, the baby sea dragons are supported by their yolk sac. 

After this, they hunt small zooplankton such as copepods and rotifers remote, until large enough to hunt young mysids externally. In the wild, young Leafy sea dragons have been attacked by other fish, crustaceans and even sea anemones. Young Leafy sea dragons look more delicate, and are often colored differently than adults, and can hide in different types of seaweed.

Because they are protected by law, acquiring Leafy sea dragon is often an expensive and difficult process because they must come from captive-bred stock, and exporters must prove their parents were killed before the collection of restrictions in force, or that they have a license Leafy sea dragon to collect it. Leafy sea dragon have a certain level of protection under the federal fisheries legislation, as in most Australian states where they occur. Seadragon is difficult to maintain in aquariums. Success in keeping them is largely confined to public sector tank, because of funding and knowledge that would not be available for the average enthusiast.

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