Phyllopteryx taeniolatus
Weedy seadragon
Distribution
Temperate Australasia, Temperate northern Pacific
Description
Closely related to seahorses, but with elongate non-prehensile tails, and the male holds eggs under the tail rather than carrying them in a brood pouch. Living individuals have an astonishing colour pattern, consisting principally of an orange-red background colour, iridescent blue stripes on the chest and numerous white spots and yellow markings. Eggs remain under the tail of the adult male for about two months; then hatched juveniles grow rapidly to a length of about 70 mm after three weeks on a diet primarily of mysid crustaceans. The juveniles are most abundant on the sandy edge of reefs near the mouth of bays. Adults live among the larger algae on exposed reefs and tend to be found in relatively deep water in the north of their range.
Information
Max Size: 46 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 10.5-23.2°C
Depth: 1-50m
Habitat Generalization Index: N/A
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Near Threatened
Occurrence: Infrequent (4.8% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney