Dollzis: Leafy Sea Dragon Lifestyle

Leafy Sea Dragon Lifestyle

They will eat what they happen to find in any given environment so the diet can vary based upon location. Leafy sea dragons feed on mysid plankton and other small crustaceans.

Leafy Seadragon Photograph By Greg Ochocki

Their camouflage is some of the best in the animal kingdom.

Leafy sea dragon lifestyle. Leafy seadragons also known as leafies or glauerts seadragon are one of the most spectacular creatures found in the marine regions of southern and western australia. This area is composed of small cup like indentations which each hold a single egg laid there by the female. Habitats of leafy seadragon.

They have one of the most spectacular examples of camouflage. These generally like to have mysid shrimps zooplanktons panaied shrimps larval fish amphibians and sea lice in their diet. Adult leafy sea dragons have many fleshy parts they look like seaweed.

Leafies are generally brown to yellow in body color with spectacular olive. Food habits of leafy seadragon. The leafy sea dragon phycodurus eques has a long pipe like snout with a small terminal mouth.

For the first couple of days the baby leafy sea dragons eat zooplankton until they are old enough to hunt mysids. There are many types of food that the leafy sea dragon depends on in their natural environment for survival. Endemic to the waters off south and east australia leafy sea dragons are closely related to seahorses and pipefish.

The leafy seadragon generally uses its long snout and small mouth to get hold of the victim. Leafy sea dragons will sometimes have isopods attached to them which are parasites. The common or weedy sea dragon occurs off the coast of tasmania and in australian waters ranging from the eastern indian ocean to the south western pacific ocean.

They can also be many colours. Phyllopteryx taeniolatus common sea dragon or weedy sea dragon. The male sea dragon incubates the fertilized eggs in a specialized spongy textured brood patch on the ventral surface of his tail.

They feed on plankton mysids and other small crustaceans. The leafies that i saw were active during the day so they are definitely not nocturnal. South east asia aquarium located in the marine life park of singapore have the leafy seadragon phycodurus eques and the weedy seadragon phyllopteryx taeniolatus.

These sea dragons have small leaf like appendages on their fins and a few protective spines. United states edit leafy seadragon at the monterey bay aquarium. Thanks to the leaf shaped appendages leafy sea dragons perfectly blend in with the seaweeds and kelps making them the masters of camouflage.

This include shrimp crustaceans and plankton. Neither prey nor predators recognize them as a fish.

Leafy Sea Dragon Phycodurus Eques Stock Image Z605 0256