Video posted to YouTube by BBC.
“Big difference from cats in heat … LOL!”
Gypsy photograph courtesy of Karen Fayeth.
We’d heard of seahorses, of course. We think most folks have. We’d never heard of a seadragon, weedy or otherwise. There’s real poetry in that name, so we were inspired to do some research. We found that they are more often refered to as leafy seadragons. Wikipedia, a good but falable start to the reasearch refers to them as “leafy.”
The leafy sea dragon or Glauerts Seadragon,Phycodurus eques, is a marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, which also includes theseahorses. It is the only member of the genus Phycodurus. It is found along the southern and western coasts of Australia. The name is derived from the appearance, with long leaf-like protrusions coming from all over the body. These protrusions are not used for propulsion; they serve only as camouflage. The leafy sea dragon propels itself by means of a pectoral fin on the ridge of its neck and a dorsal fin on its back closer to the tail end. These small fins are almost completely transparent and difficult to see as they undulate minutely to move the creature sedately through the water, completing the illusion of floating seaweed. MORE [Wikipedia]
For those who are also intrigues and wish to research further, we found that the “leafy” seadragon is the marine emblem of South Australia. Link HERE. Dive Gallery has the most incredible photographs of these and other coral leaf creatures and images.
Photograph courtesy of Dive Gallery.com.
How wonderful they are Jamie…gracious and what good fathers they are!!! LOL xxx
They are, aren’t they. I’m completely charmed! xx