Cold Water
Weedy Seadragon
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus · Bony fish, family Syngnathidae; also called the common seadragon, an Australian endemic
A weedy seadragon trades the leafy's full costume for jewelry: a slimmer, kelp-red body scattered with yellow spots and violet-blue bars, trailing a few weed-like appendages as it drifts along sponge gardens and kelp lines across Australia's temperate south. It is the more widespread and more often met seadragon, turning up on shore dives and jetty pilings as well as offshore reefs, always slightly farther away than it looks and always mid-meal, vacuuming mysids by the thousand. Males carry the brood (around 250 eggs pressed onto the underside of the tail each breeding season), and site-faithful adults let researchers identify individuals from spot patterns year after year. Give the animal right of way and resist guiding it with a hand or fin wash; a displaced dragon burns energy it budgets tightly.
أين ومتى تراها
"مقيم" تعني أن معظم الغطسات في هذه الوجهة ستُمكّنك من مشاهدتها؛ "موسمي" تعني أنها متواجدة بشكل موثوق خلال الأشهر المذكورة؛ أي شيء آخر فهو مكسب غير متوقع، وليس شيئًا يُعتمد عليه في التخطيط.
| الوجهة | الموثوقية | الأشهر | ملاحظات |
|---|---|---|---|
| South AustraliaAustralia | Resident: seen on most dives | طوال العام |
أفضل شهر، في لمحة
| الشهر | وجهات موثوقة |
|---|---|
| January | South Australia |
| February | South Australia |
| March | South Australia |
| April | South Australia |
| May | South Australia |
| June | South Australia |
| July | South Australia |
| August | South Australia |
| September | South Australia |
| October | South Australia |
| November | South Australia |
| December | South Australia |
فهمها
الموئل: Kelp lines, sponge gardens, seagrass margins, and jetty piles over sand across Australia's temperate south.
النطاق: Southern Australia from New South Wales around to southern Western Australia, including Tasmania.
السلوك: Drifts singly or in loose pairs along habitat edges; males brood around 250 eggs pressed onto the underside of the tail each breeding season, and individuals can be photo-identified by their spot patterns.
النظام الغذائي: Mysid shrimp and other small crustaceans vacuumed continuously through the tubular snout.
الحجم: عادةً حوالي 0.3 m; موثَّق حتى عمق 0.46 m (total length).
كيف تتصرف في حضوره
Protected in Australian waters: no touching or shepherding with hands or fins, and photo-identification projects welcome clear, unharassed side-on images.
الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية
Least Concern under its current assessment and protected in Australian waters; kelp decline along the southeast is the pressure researchers watch most closely.
المواقع المعروفة بها
المواقع المُبرزة رسَّمها محرّرونا لهذا النوع؛ والأرقام هي سجلات ظهور GBIF المُسجَّلة في نطاق نحو 5 كم من الموقع منذ عام 1990.
شاهد
من القنوات الرسمية
Wildlife of Monterey | New film in our auditorium
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Live Aviary Cam | Monterey Bay Aquarium
مقاطع الفيديو روابط مُضمَّنة لقنوات أصحابها. لا نستضيف شيئًا ونُشير إلى المصدر في كل الأحوال.