One of my favourite fish this week, albeit an unusual and strange one, the leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques).
Take a look at the picture above and it’s clear how the leafy sea dragon came by its name – it does indeed resemble a sea dragon covered in leafy branches. Leafy sea dragons are from the same family as seahorses, and if you can imagine untwisting a seahorse’s tail and straightening out its head, you get the rough body shape of the sea dragon. Just add some foliage and the beast is complete. Leafy sea dragons are one of the most ornately camouflage animals in the world. The weed-like leafy protrusions on the dragon’s body play no role in propulsion and swimming, serving only to camouflage the animal and allow it to blend into its surroundings. There is a very thin almost transparent fin on the dragon’s neck and body that undulates to move the animal serenely through the water, completing the illusion of floating sea weed.
Leafy sea dragons are the only species of the genus Phycodurus, and grow to around 30 cm in size. They can only be found along the south western coast of Australia, hiding amongst rocks and sea grass in waters of about 50 m depth. They feed through their long thin snouts on zooplankton and other small crustaceans, although bizarrely lack any teeth, which is highly unusual considering their crunchy diet. Their slender tails are not prehensile, so cannot be used to grip anything, so unlike seahorses they float around in the water column. The dragons do however share one of other unique characters of seahorses – the males are responsible for bearing and caring for the eggs. Whilst male seahorses have a pouch to keep the eggs in, leafy sea dragons have a spongy brood patch on the underside of their tails. The female deposits bright pink eggs on the brood patch, which are fertilised by the male as they are transferred from one parent to the other. The brood patch keeps the eggs oxygenated, and after around nine weeks of incubation the eggs hatch. Miniature sea dragons are released into the water column, fully independent and ready to set out on their own.
Weedy sea dragons (Phylloteryx taeniolatus) are a very closely related species to the leafy sea dragon. They tend to be bigger than the leafy dragons, around 45 cm long, and have much less ornate camouflage appendages. Weedy sea dragons tend to be reddish in colour, with yellow spots, whilst leafy dragons are brown to yellow in colour, with olive tinted projections. Bar these differences, the two species are quite similar in appearance and lifestyle. I prefer leafy dragons over the weedy dragons due to one factor, the extra leafiness. It adds a certain je ne sais quoi, perhaps an element of more elegance and beauty to the animal. Apparently I’m quite superficial like that when it comes to sea dragons. The picture below is of a weedy sea dragon – compare and contrast to the leafy sea dragon at the top of post to see how they differ.
AWEsome!!!!!