Weedy Seadragon

The common seadragon, also called the weedy seadragon, is a marine fish of the order Syngnathiformes, which also includes the similar pipefishes, seahorses and trumpetfishes. Adult common seadragons are reddish in colour with yellow and purple striped markings, and they carry small, leaf-like appendages resembling kelp or seaweed fronds that provide camouflage, along with short spines for protection; like seahorses and other syngnathids, they have a tubular snout and a fused, toothless jaw used to capture small invertebrate prey at high speed. Males are narrower-bodied and darker than females, and weedy seadragons can reach 45 centimetres in length; the species is the marine emblem of the Australian state of Victoria.