Weedy seadragon  (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)

Biology

These fish are slow-moving and rely on their camouflage as protection against predation; they drift in the water and with the leaf-like appendages resemble the swaying seaweed of their habitat (4). Individuals are observed either on their own or in pairs; feeding on planktonic organisms by sucking prey into their toothless mouths (4). Like seahorses, seadragon males are the sex that cares for the developing eggs. Females lay around 120 eggs onto the brood patch located on the underside of the males tail (4). The eggs are fertilised and carried by the male for around a month before the hatchlings emerge (4).

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