Mesmerizing footage of a weedy seadragon carrying his eggs was recorded recently by a diver in Australia.
Jules Casey, who regularly documents the incredible creatures she finds on her journeys around Australia’s coast, was diving at Flinders Pier on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne. Casey spotted two weedy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) and quickly realized there was more to them than just their mesmerizing features.
Weedy seadragons are only found in Australia and feed on tiny shrimp called mystids and small crustaceans. They are related to seahorses and both belong to the taxonomic family Syngnathidae, which also includes the pipefish. Adult seadragons can grow to around 45 centimeters (17.7 inches) long.
Like seahorses and pipefish, male weedy seadragons brood their eggs and can carry between 250 and 300 at a time. Unlike seahorse males that carry the eggs within a pouch on the front of their bodies, seadragon dads have a tail pouch that helps hold all the eggs in place. Female seadragons deposit the eggs into the skin of the male to be fertilized and the skin forms a cup around each individual egg, providing each egg with oxygen as it grows.
Freshly laid eggs are bright pink while eggs nearer to hatching will grow darker. The male seadragons will carry the eggs for around 6-8 weeks before they hatch. The egg capsule is still important to the offspring once hatched as they are known to feed on it for around two days after their hatching. They are thought to live for between 5-7 years, though some have survived as long as 10 years in captivity.
Weedy seadragons are classed as Least Concern by the IUCN, however, habitat degradation and loss of suitable seagrass areas – which give the weedy seadragon its name – could be causing the population to decline. This is especially prevalent in areas of higher urbanization around the coast as sewage and stormwater can cause sedimentation. The species is occasionally taken for the pet trade but this is thought to be in low enough numbers to not affect populations.
