WATERY WEDNESDAY #3

WATERY WEDNESDAY#3

Watery Wednesday has arrived; and we have a wild looking sea creature for you today! This funny looking animal is called a dragon but it doesn’t breathe fire! It’s actually a member of the seahorse family! So let’s meet this not ferocious dragon!

MEET THE WEEDY SEA DRAGON!

Range/Habitat: South Australia/reefs and rocky shores

Diet: Carnivore: tiny crustaceans, zooplankton

Length: up to 18”

Conservation Status: Common

Fun facts:

• The Weedy Sea dragon is one of the largest members of the sea horse family.
• They have “leaf-like” flaps that help them blend in with sea weed and plants.
• They don’t have a prehensile tail like other sea horses, so they cannot hold on to plants!
• They use their large dorsal fin (on their back) to swim and tiny fins on the side of their heads to balance. Weedy Sea Dragons are not very good swimmers though.
• The male Weedy sea dragon carries the fertilized egg on the undersurface of his tail. He carries them until they hatch.

We just love the Weedy Sea Dragon! It looks like it’s from another planet! But it’s not, it’s from Australia!