Sea Dragons - Birch Aquarium

Birch Aquarium - Sea Dragons - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. My name is Jessica Crawford. I am the marketing manager of Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Our sea dragons are one of the most popular species at Birch Aquarium. We have weedy and leafy sea dragons. Both of these animals are native to the Southern Coast of Australia. These are fascinating animals that have leaf-like appendages and spectacular colors. They look beautiful in an aquarium and beautiful underwater. They grow to about 14 inches, so they are rather big animals. What sets them apart from other fish, and the same thing with seahorses, is that it is the males that carry the young. What the male sea dragons have is this little spongy part on their backside. When a female comes over to them and deposits the eggs, they then fertilize the eggs and they keep the baby sea horses safe for the four to six weeks that it takes before they are born. That is one of the most exciting things that we get to see here at Birch Aquarium.