Leafy sea dragon: the most wonderful seahorse (6 photos)

Looking at this fish, you won’t immediately understand: is this a living creature in front of you or an elegant seaweed swimming, driven by the current? Foreign scientists were so impressed that they gave the fish an epic name - leafy sea dragon.





Well, it’s very similar to that same old lady from the flea market!

Our ichthyologists looked and looked at all this and thought: there would be too much honor. With a pure soul, they gave the animal another title - rag picker seahorse. Here it is - the difference in mentalities!

He doesn't sell things on the market. If a hobbyist gets involved in trade and financial relations, it is certainly not as a seller, but as a product. It is taken both as an ingredient for alternative shamanic medicine and as a souvenir for collectors, because it is not found anywhere else except in the southern waters of Australia.



When your mom dressed you up in an incomprehensible thing for the New Year's party.

Why did the horse turn from a horse into a piece of cloth? Or a dragon, whichever you prefer. So that they don't eat it. Adults are absolutely defenseless. They have no armor, fangs, thorns or poison. They don't even know how to swim properly! Other skates move with the help of a powerful tail - they hit the water with it and push the body in the desired direction. And our rag dragon, like a kite, floats limply in the water streams. So the skates have to imitate sea plants. But how successfully they do it!





I'm a grass-grass-grass, and not a horse at all.

The magnificent ribbon-like decorations all over the body are nothing more than skin extensions. They are thin and soft to dangle freely in the water, imitating seaweed. And if the currents bring the skate to a new place where there are no usual plants, the fish will still not get lost. It will change color and blend in with the local flora! The leafy sea dragon has become so successful in the art of camouflage that it has become the largest species among seahorses - its body length reaches 25 cm!



Another poetic name for fish is sea pegasus.

But fish organize a color disco not only to hide. But also in order to mate! During the mating season, the skates become brighter with love. The male and female spend time extremely romantic: the couple spins in a dance, inspiring the partner to become brighter and more beautiful.



Bloomed with love.

The festivities continue for a long time. The female lays 250 bright pink eggs in a special place on the male's tail, after which the pair stays together for 4 to 9 weeks. But as soon as the baby dragons hatch from the eggs, both parents quickly run away from the newborn children. The fish are not interested in the further fate of the other half and their offspring. As they say: if you’ve done the job, go for a walk!



So, I urgently need to change my image, otherwise the color doesn’t go well with the children!

It will be hard for the kids, even despite the parting gift from their parents - a yolk sac. This is a capsule with nutrients, thanks to which the fry do not have to worry about food for the first few days. But the supply of provisions does not in any way save you from the teeth of predators. Tiny and light, they sway with every extra movement of water. Therefore, only 5% of those hatched will survive to adulthood.