The Leafy Sea Dragon

The incredibly beautiful, incredibly intricate Leafy Sea Dragon (Phycodurus eques) lives amongst the rocky reefs, seaweed beds and seagrass meadows of Australia’s southern waters. They are given a fragile appearance by their gossamer, leafy appendages, which actually evolved as camouflage to blend in with floating pieces of seaweed, and their movements mimic the swaying of seaweed and kelp—they’re one of the few species that actually hide from predators by moving. They also have long sharp spines along the side of their body, and can grow to a length of 35 centimetres. Curiously, males are the child bearers, incubating the eggs on a spongy brood patch on their tail. They’re currently listed as a threatened species because pollution threatens their habitat, and also because they’re frequently (and illegally) taken by divers to keep as pets.

(Image Credit: Caelum Mero)
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