Leafy Seadragon

ocean · camouflage · seahorse-family · Australia

Leafy leaf costume. The leafy seadragon is covered in flaps of skin that look exactly like seaweed and kelp leaves. These leafy appendages help it blend in perfectly with the ocean plants around it, making it almost invisible to predators.

Lives off Australia. You'll only find leafy seadragons along the southern coast of Australia, in cool ocean waters. They drift slowly through seagrass beds and rocky reefs, staying in shallow areas they can hide in.

Related to seahorses. The leafy seadragon is a relative of seahorses and pipefish, all in the same family called Syngnathidae. Like seahorses, male leafy seadragons carry and care for the babies.

Tiny food hunter. These creatures eat very small animals like tiny shrimp and plankton by sucking them into their long snouts. They must spend a lot of time eating because their bodies are small and need lots of energy.

The only one of its kind. The leafy seadragon is the only species in its entire genus, making it completely unique in the world. This special fish has no close cousins, just distant relatives in its larger family.