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phycodurus eques
This is a "Leafy Sea dragon." It is a part of the pipe fish family and the Sea Horse family.. The leaves are used for camouflage ,as per Wikipedia.. the leaves create an illusion of floating seaweed. The leaves are not used for propulsion as I first thought..
This picture was taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Since it is on exhibit , I am not sure whether it's habitat is also in the Pacific. I know that they are found on Australia's southern shoreline.
Spotted on Jul 6, 2009
Submitted on May 5, 2011
8 Comments
Thanks Cindy and if you are in Escondido,that is a great place to be for spottings!
Nature is truly amazing!
amazing + so clever!
They are found off the coast of Tasmania. Once, after a bit of a storm surge, I found one of the closely related Weedy sea dragons dead on a beach. It must have just died because the colors were still bright and vibrant. Tasmania even has a commercial seahorse raising facility ( http://www.visitlauncestontamar.com.au/a... ).
http://youtu.be/DuI4ncViU4Y
you tube video on sea dragons
Fascinating!
Truly amazing creation of the nature...!!
Great photo! Did you know that a sea horse is part of the pipefish family? Thought you might want to change your setting from other to fish!