Phyllopteryx

Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, the Weedy Seadragon or Common Seadragon, 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 southern coastline of Australia, approximately between Port Stephens, New South Wales and Geraldton, Western Australia, as well as around Tasmania. Weedy Seadragons are named for the weed-like projections on their bodies that camouflage them as they move among the seaweed beds where they are usually found.


Weedy Seadragons can reach 45 cm in length. They feed on tiny crustaceans and other zooplankton, from places such as crevices in reef, which are sucked into the end of their long tube-like snout. They lack a prehensile tail that enables similar species to clasp and anchor themselves. Phyllopteryx taeniolatus swim in shallow reefs and weed beds, and resemble drifting weed when moving over bare sand.[1]

Seadragons, seahorses and pipefish are the only known species where the male carries the eggs.


The male of the species carries the fertilized eggs, attached under his tail, where they are incubated for about eight weeks. The young are independent at birth, beginning to eat shortly after. Mating in captivity is rare since researchers have yet to understand what biological or environmental factors trigger them to reproduce. In captivity the survival rate for Weedy Seadragons is about 60%.

A more cryptic relative of the Weedy Seadragon is the Leafy Seadragon, Phycodurus eques. In the November 2006 issue of National Geographic magazine, marine biologist Greg Rouse is reported as investigating the DNA variation of the two seadragon species across their ranges.

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the USA; and the Melbourne Aquarium in Melbourne in Australia are the only facilities in the world to have successfully bred Weedy Seadragons in captivity, though others occasionally report egg laying. As of June 2008, the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, USA had a pregnant seadragon, which was expected to give birth in early-mid July.

The Weedy Seadragon is the marine emblem of the Australian State of Victoria.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Syngnathiformes
Family: Syngnathidae
Subfamily: Syngnathinae
Genus: Phyllopteryx
Species: P. taeniolatus