A close-up of a rare kind of sea dragon
The only species in the genus Phycodurus
It belongs to the family of cardamom, occurs only on the west and south coasts of Australia from a depth of 5-35m, especially in temperate waters with year-round temperatures from 14-19 degrees Celsius.
Usually, this species is close to 35cm in length, but some grow up to 45cm. With a body like leaves, Hai Long leaves have the best camouflage skills in the sea, so it is difficult for fierce fish to eat it. It has a long small mouth, used to suck prey in. Their favorite food is small invertebrates around kelp clumps.
Females lay eggs once a year, about 250 eggs each time. They then place their eggs on the incubator located on the male’s tail to fertilize them. The eggs are carried by the ‘male dragon’ all the time until about 8 weeks later, they hatch into juvenile sea dragons, but only about 5% of them develop to about 2 years of age or more.
Because of their wonderful and strange beauty, they become the object of people who like to keep aquarium fish and hunt for foreign objects.
Source: https://fancy4daily.com
