The Leafy Seadragon or also commonly referred to as Glauert’s seadragon is a marine fish that is part of the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses; however, it is the only member of the genus Phycodurus. They are very commonly found along the southern and western coasts of Austrailia. These seadragons are covered with leaf-like protrusions coming from all over their body that act as camouflage. Many times they are often confused as floating seaweed.
These creatures are also very commonly referred to as “leafies” and they are a symbol for marine conservation in the state of South Australia. Although not extremely large, they are slightly larger than most seahorses with some found to grow up to 20-24 cm (8-9.5 in). These creatures mainly feed off of plankton and other small crustaceans. The lobes in these creatures skins provide camouflage from predators, giving off the appearance of seaweed.
The leafy seadragon has only been found in. southern Australian waters. At first, we thought of these creatures to have very limited living ranges, but they are capable of traveling hundreds of meters from their original habitual location. One interesting thing about these animals is that the females will produce up to 250 bright pink eggs and then deposit them into the male’s tail, where after 9 weeks the eggs will begin to hatch.
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