What is a leafy seadragon?
The leafy seadragon is a fish related to seahorses, found only in southern Australian waters. It is covered in leaf-like appendages that camouflage it among seaweed and kelp.
Leafy seadragons grow to about 30 to 35 centimetres long. Their leafy appendages are used only for camouflage, not swimming. They move using small, almost transparent fins on the neck and back, drifting slowly like floating seaweed.
They live in shallow coastal waters from Western Australia's mid-west coast across South Australia, including its gulfs, to western Victoria.
Dads carry the eggs
As with seahorses, the male carries the eggs. The female lays around 250 eggs onto a patch under the male's tail, where they develop for about a month.
The leafy seadragon is South Australia's marine emblem and is fully protected.
Divers and snorkellers often find them around jetties and reefs in South Australia, such as Rapid Bay and Edithburgh. Storms sometimes wash them ashore, and beachgoers who find a live one are encouraged to return it gently to the water. Aquariums around the world display leafy seadragons, but collecting from the wild is tightly controlled.
Did You Know?
Leafy seadragons have no teeth and suck up tiny shrimp called mysids through their tube-like snouts.