From the BBC’s Life series, two weedy seadragons dance into the night. We also get an up close look at a male’s eggs and a newly hatched baby:
Living off the coast of south Australia, weedy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) are the only known species along with sea horses and pipefish – where the male carries the eggs. Although the eggs start out in the female, she lays about 120 of them onto the tail of the male where they are then fertilized and develop until they hatch.
Feeding on plankton, larval fishes and small shrimp-like crustaceans, seadragons resemble swaying seaweed making them difficult to find in their natural habitats, even though they can grow to about 46 cm in length.
Related watching: more Syngnathidae videos (the fish family that includes seahorses, pipefishes, and both weedy and leafy sea dragons).
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