All About Sea Dragons

While perusing your local aquarium or watching marine life shows on nature channels you may have seen a startlingly beautiful and very unusual creature which looked something like a seahorse, but even more alien, almost mythical in its appearance.

These extraordinary creatures are called Sea Dragons, named of course for their legendary counterparts.  As fantastic as the dragons of the imagination are, few people could have imagined something as unusual in appearance and characteristics as the real Sea Dragon!  Those lucky enough to have seen them in person know how extraordinary they are.  Those who haven’t, but have only seen pictures or video of them, certainly have seen enough to be intrigued.

The Leafy Details of a Sea Dragon

Seadragons are a rare, unique form of marine life only found along the southern and western coasts of Australia.  The most well known variety of Sea Dragon is called the Leafy Sea Dragon; the Latin name for this species is Phycodurus eques. They are also known as Glauerts Sea Dragons.  They are indeed related to seahorses as well as pipefish and pipehorses.  The group of sea creatures these animals comprise is called Syngathiformes and also includes other uncommon species like pygmy seahorses and pygmy pipehorses.

The Leafy Sea Dragon is named for the leaf-like appendages of skin which protrude from its body.  The exceptional characteristics of Leafy Seadragons extend beyond their appearance to their fascinating life cycles.  Much of the lives of Sea Dragons are driven by their impressive seaweed-like camouflage.  This camouflage not only encompasses their leaf-like appearance but also their movements.  Sadly the Leafy Sea Dragon is a threatened species, in spite of their incredible adaptations – due largely to poaching and storms.  Very little is really known about Sea Dragons as compared with many other underwater species and there are few resources available to the curious.  Unfortunately as this species grows increasingly rare, the opportunities to learn more about Phycodurus eques continue to disappear.

A close relative of the Leafy Sea Dragon is the Weedy Sea Dragon, or Phyllopteryx taeniolatus.  Weedy Sea Dragons are very similar to Leafy Seadragons but smaller and more slender in their builds.  Weedy Seadragons are every bit as intriguing to study as the Leafy Sea Dragons and have a great deal in common with them as well as with other Syngathiformes.

This site will explore the beauty and mystery of the Seadragon in detail.  Navigate through the links to learn more about the lives of Leafy Seadragons and that of their relatives, the Weedy Seadragons, including details about their habitats, diets, mating and reproductive cycles and other more unusual facts.  You will find out how human industrial activity is destroying the Sea Dragon habitat and threatening this amazing creature with endangerment.  You will also discover the thorny lives of Sea Dragons in captivity and why it is so hard to keep a Sea Dragon as a pet.  Finally, view the Leafy Seadragon and Weedy Seadragon in their natural habitat in a series of stunning underwater photographs featured in the Sea Dragon gallery.   Even if you can’t make it to an aquarium showcasing Sea Dragons, you can still gain an appreciation of their atypical splendor from the photographs on the site.  Start your journey in detail by learning about the life of the leafy sea dragon!