The Weedy Seadragon is only found in the temperate waters of southern Australia. They are related to seahorses. source: Marine Education Society of Australasia
The Weedy Seadragon is a fascinating creature with leaf like appendages. It has blue spotting on the long snout and body is orange or brown. It is difficult to spot when amongst weeds. The juveniles are more slender with proportionately larger appendages making them even harder to see. source: OZ Animals
| State emblems | |
| Emblem type: | marine |
| State: | Victoria |
| RLS profile v3 | |
| Invasive: | Not known to be invasive |
| Abundance: | 1.291 |
| Life_History: | Eggs remain under the tail of the adult male for about two months; then hatched juveniles grow rapidly to a length of about 70 mm after three weeks on a diet primarily of mysid crustaceans |
| IUCN_Threat_status: | Near Threatened |
| Frequency: | 0.586 |
| Description: | Seadragons are closely related to seahorses but with elongate non-prehensile tails, and the male holds eggs under the tail rather than carrying them in a brood pouch. Living individuals have an astonishing colour pattern, consisting principally of an orange-red background colour, iridescent blue stripes on the chest and numerous white spots and yellow markings |
| Common_Name: | Weedy seadragon;Common seadragon; weedy seadragon |
| Habitat: | Moderately to submaximally exposed reef |
| Behaviour: | The juveniles are most abundant on the sandy edge of reefs near the mouth of bays. Adults live among the larger algae on exposed reefs and tend to be found in relatively deep water in the north of their range |
| Distribution: | Geraldton, WA, to Port Stephens, NSW, and around Tas. |
| Depth: | 1–50 m |
| Range: | 1013.494 |
| Max_size: | 460 mm |
| Threats: | Illegal fishing for East Asian medicinal market |
| Accepted name | Source |
|---|---|
| Phyllopteryx taeniolatus |
| Synonyms | Source |
|---|---|
| Syngnathus foliatus Shaw, 1804 | |
| Published in: Shaw, G. 1804. General Zoology or systematic natural history. Fishes London : G. Kearsley Vol. 5 pp. 1-463 pls 1 (or 93)-182 | |
| Syngnatus taeniolatus Lacépède, 1804 | |
| Published in: Lacépède, B.G.E. 1804. Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle-Hollande dont la description n'a pas encore été publiée. Ann. Mus. Natl Hist. Nat. Paris Vol. 4 pp. 184-211 pls 55-58 | |
| Hippocampus foliatus Perry, 1810 | |
| Published in: Perry, G. 1810. Ichthyology. In, Arcana; or The Museum of Natural History. 2 unnumbered pages. 1 unnumbered plate | |
| Hippocampus foliaceus Richardson, 1843 | |
| Published in: Richardson, J. 1843. Report on the present state of the ichthyology of New Zealand. Rep. 12th Meet. Br. Assoc. Adv. Sci. Vol. 1842 pp. 12-30 | |
| Phillopteryx elongatus Castelnau, 1872 | |
| Published in: Castelnau, F.L. de 1872. Contribution to the ichthyology of Australia. 2. Note on some South Australian fishes. Proc. Zool. Acclim. Soc. Vict. Vol. 1 pp. 243-248 | |
| Phyllopteryx altus McCoy, 1882 | |
| Published in: McCoy, F. 1882. Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria. Decade 7 Melbourne : George Robertson Vol. 1 pp. 1-37 pls 61-70 | |
| Phyllopteryx lucasi Whitley, 1931 | |
| Published in: Whitley, G.P. 1931. Studies in Ichthyology No. 4. Rec. Aust. Mus. Vol. 18 (3) pp. 96-133 figs 1-2 pls 11-16 | |
| Common name | Source |
|---|---|
| Common Seadragon | |
| Common Sea Dragon | |
| Lucas' Sea-dragon | |
| Weedy Sea Dragon | |
| Weedy Seadragon | |
| Common Sea-dragon | |
| Weedy Sea-dragon |
View list of all occurrence records for this taxon
