Weedy Seadragon (phyllopteryx taeniolatus) - Australiana

Weedy seadragon is an Aussie icon.

Weedy Seadragons (phyllopteryx taeniolatus) live only in southern Australian waters. The fish are quite large, growing to 46cm. They are redish with yellow spots and blend in with their surroundings.  Their red, sandy color does not show against the weedy background as they have green weed-like appendages.

Seadragon males incubate eggs. A female puts about 200 eggs into a brooding pouch on the male during mating. The male fertilizes the eggs in his pouch. The young take two years to become mature.

When seadragons die they are preserved by bony plates. These can be found washed up on beaches. Yearly rings are "recorded" in their ear bones. They live for five years. Seadragons are a barometer for climate change. It the environment deteriorates many die off.

◆ Australiana by Ty Buchanan ◆

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COOL DRAGON

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New Species of Seadragon Found after 150 Years

While new animals are regularly identified, all species of seadragons were thought to be known. Indeed, it has been 150 years since all were classified. A surprise was on hand for Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Western Australia Museum. A new type of seadragon was found off the WA coast.

A sample had been in a lab untested since 2007. The latest DNA testing system enables new kinds of creatures to be singled out. Named Phyllopteryx dewysea, the new seadragon is bright red in color. This is an ideal color for camouflage in deep water.

No one expected a new type, so it remained undetected until the new technique made 5,000 X-ray slices of the sample. The Ruby Seadragon has a distinct skeletal structure. It increases the number of known seadragon species by 50 per cent, because there were only two other kinds of this mysterious animal previously.

✴ Technology by Ty Buchanan ✴

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New Seahorse and Coral Found in Australian Waters

Two new species have been found in Australia in the Coral Sea near the Barrier Reef. Atolls were explored by a team from the Queensland Museum and the University of Queensland. In the dark depths adjacent to the atolls a new pygmy seahorse and coral were found. They are not really new: they have always been there. The depths were surveyed with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

The seahorse, Hippocampus denise, is native to the Coral Sea of the Indo-West Pacific. It was not know to exist in Australian waters. The tiny seahorse usually lives in shallow water not at depths which sunlight does not reach. They may be going deeper to avoid damage to coral from climate change.

In regard to the new coral, Echinomorpha nishihirai, perhaps the larvae are safer in this zone. They could be acting as seeding areas to repopulate shallower zones. La Niña has damaged many of these. Many more new species are expected to be identified in the ongoing research.

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