Leafy sea dragon

Depth: 25 m · Sunlight Zone

The leafy sea dragon is a relative of the seahorse and a master of disguise: its leaf-shaped skin flaps make it look like drifting seaweed. So it floats almost invisibly through the kelp forests. It moves very slowly.

For scientists

The leaf-shaped skin flaps of the leafy sea dragon serve only for camouflage, not propulsion; it is moved by nearly transparent fins that beat very fast. As with the seahorse, the male carries the eggs, here glued to the underside of the tail. It has no teeth and sucks tiny crustaceans in through its tube snout.

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