#2329 · 🐟 fish

Weedy Seadragon

🇳🇱 Phyllopteryx ·Phyllopteryx taeniolatus

VUvulnerable 🐟 Fish 📍 outside Europe

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © J. Martin Crossley · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
2. © J. Martin Crossley · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
3. © Klaus Stiefel · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Richard Ling · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
5. © Charles Van den Broek · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
6. © J. Martin Crossley · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
7. © Graham Short · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. © J. Martin Crossley · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
9. © J. Martin Crossley · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

what is it?

Common seadragon or weedy seadragon ( Phyllopteryx taeniolatus ) is a marine fish related to the seahorse. Adult common seadragons are a reddish colour, with yellow and purple markings; they have small leaf-like appendages that resemble kelp fronds providing camouflage and a number of short spines for protection. Males have narrower bodies and are darker than females. Seadragons have a long dorsal fin along the back and small pectoral fins on either side of the neck, which provide...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 4,542iNaturalist observations
threat VUvulnerable

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
4,542 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1804 (222 years ago).
Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.