The Leafy Sea Dragon

The Leafy Sea Dragon is the most ornate (or decorative) of our sea dragons. It is so-called because of its numerous leafy appendages, which camouflage it amongst the seaweed. The Leafy Sea Dragon is found only in Southern Australian waters and is fully protected in SA waters. It is also the marine emblem for SA.

(photo: Paul Macdonald)

Sea dragons are related to pipefish and seahorses. Sea dragons, pipefish and seahorses are all Syngnathids, members of the family Syngnathidae. All Syngnathids have a tube-like snout for sucking up their food and it is the males that carry the young.

(photo: Neville Skinner)

They feed on micro-organisms and tiny crustacea, which they suck up through their tube-like snouts.

(photo: Michael Matthewson)

This is a male Leafy Sea Dragon carrying the eggs.

(photo: Paul Macdonald )

Leafy Sea dragons rely on their camouflage, not speed.

As for all Syngnathids, there is a substantial fine for removing Leafy Sea Dragons from the sea. Even beach-washed specimens must be left on the beach. A permit from the Department of Fisheries is needed to keep any sea dragons (live or dead). The Leafy Sea Dragon has a sharp, bony, external skeleton. Leaf-like appendages growing from the body, head and snout resemble its habitat. They live in seaweed and algae. They swim by using their dorsal fin for forward movement, and pectoral fins on both sides of their neck for control.

Their swim-bladder assists with buoyancy control. Their coloration is light golden brown (in the adult), with white transverse lines across the face. Their eyes are yellow, and these can move independently of each other. Leafy Sea Dragons breed in early summer. The male carries more than 100 fertilized eggs in cup-like supports on his tail for 3--5 weeks until they hatch. Males may be seen with eggs on their tail around November and December. Newly-hatched juveniles may be seen around December and January. The Marine Life Society of South Australia http://www.mlssa.asn.au. adopted the Leafy Sea Dragon for its logo in 1982. The Society began recording sea dragon sightings in the early 1990's and this ultimately led to the formation of Dragon Search, the seadragon monitoring program, around late 1994. There is a code of conduct called (the Diving with Dragons Code of Conduct) for diving with sea dragons. It can be found at http://www.dragonsearch.asn.au/code/code.html

(photo: Neville Skinner)

The code of conduct asks divers not to touch seadragons and to leave them where they are. Contrary to the code of conduct, the diver in the photo above was seen holding a Leafy Seadragon in his camera framer so that he could take a close-up photo of it at Rapid Bay jetty in 2000.

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(photo: Paul Macdonald)

Look but don't touch, as this diver observes an egg laden male.

The French call the Leafy Sea Dragon "le dragon-algue". ‘Algue’ is French for alga or sea-weed.