Sea Dragons, a Marine Fish

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Recommended: 9th grade biology animal classifications

Did you see that? Looking in the sea of the south and west tropical coast of Austria a diver observing very closely in the sea can easily miss this genital, well camouflaged marine fish in plain sight, the sea dragon. Although they are very similar to the seahorse, sea dragons are quite different in amazing ways and are divided into two diverse genus and species, Phycodurus eques (Leafy Sea Dragons) and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (Weedy Sea Dragons). Here you will learn about the taxonomic classification (Kingdom, Phylums/Division, Class, Order, Family Genus, Species), physical characteristics/ biology, habitat, ecology, and much more. Let us examine this creature more closely.

Directing your attention toward the taxonomy of sea dragons you will notice that our of five kingdoms, Animalia or Metazoa kingdom suits this perticuar organism the best as it is multicellular and eukaryoticheterotroph(bodies do not make its own food), have skeletal support system of some sort, and reproduce sexually(Myers),. Next, the phylum of sea dragons is Chordata. Chordata is the phylum that includes all the animals that have a notochord, or nerve cord, at some stage of their development (Kennedy). The class of this animal is Actinopterygii. After that is their order which is Syngnathiformes. Also sea dragons belong to the family syngnathidae which derived from Greek meaning "fused jaw", a trait that all members of this family have in common(Sara A). As a member of the syngnathidae family, which are mostly marine fish and comprise of about 200 species of pipefishes in 54 genera, including the weedy sea dragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) and the leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques)(eol). Now we have stated toaxomic classification it’s time to get acclima...

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... Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .

• Myers, Phil. "Animalia." Animal Diversity Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .

• "Phycodurus Eques." (Glauerts Seadragon, Leafy Seadragon). N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .

• "Pipefishes and Seahorses (Syngnathidae) - Information on Pipefishes and Seahorses - Encyclopedia of Life." Encyclopedia of Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .

• "Project Seahorse: Advancing Marine Conservation." Essential Facts about Seadragons. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .

• "Weedy Seadragon." PRIMEFACT. N.p., 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .

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