- © Aquarium of the Pacific and K. Leonard
- pPhoto taken at the Aquarium of the Pacific's seadragon habitat
Named seadragons after the dragons of Chinese legends, leafy seadragons definitely resemble the dragon of fairy tales. They are bony fish in the family Syngnathidae which includes seahorses and pipefishes. Although relatives, their appearance is quite different in that they have a tail that cannot be coiled and they have leaf-like appendages on the head and body.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
West and southern Australia
- Amazing Facts
The leafy sea dragon is the official marine emblem of the state of South Australia
- At the Aquarium
Aquarists carefully monitor the water temperature in the leafy seadragons' Aquarium habitat. The temperature is shifted up or down depending on the season of the year but always stays somewhere between 13 to 19o C (55 to 67o F). Our seadragons are now fed frozen and cultured mysid shrimp, but it has taken some time to convince them that frozen are as good as fresh.