Greetings again my dear friends of this prestigious platform, we continue with our wonderful journey through the aquatic world, and in this way, getting to know some of our beautiful and captivating marine species and in this way to value the vital balance that we must have with any living being of this majestic planet Earth, and this time we will relate in a general way with some characteristics of the marine species commonly known as the leafy sea dragon.

Each of the knowledge that we as living and thinking beings have acquired of everything that surrounds us we owe to our essential tool for obtaining knowledge as represented by the entire field of science, and from this field these learnings radiate to the rest of the areas linked to our exponential development, where, without a doubt, we find the fertile area of technology and each of its outstanding technological applications in any aspect or field of our existence, and likewise implemented for the knowledge of the fascinating marine world.

In this opportunity we could highlight the application of satellite technology, since there are satellites in our outer space that send signals which bounce off the seabed and thus obtain some data of interest such as the temperature and color of the water, wave speed, among other important data that allow us to have more knowledge of the depths of the sea and its precious inhabitants.

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Now we can begin to know some of the characteristics of this type of fish as the leafy sea dragon, and therefore, we will begin by saying that from the scientific point of view it is known as Phycodurus eques, and this marine species belongs to the family (Syngnathidae) of the recognized seahorse, When we observe it, it may come to mind that these leaf-shaped extensions are mainly used or implemented to propel itself more quickly, however, the main function of these limbs is camouflage to confuse its predators, which are represented by any fish larger than the dragonfish.

Another of the curious characteristics of this type of marine species is represented by its way of reproduction, since for this, the female of this species transfers the eggs to the male dragon who keeps them in his chest in one of its cavities, and in this space of his body has them until they are fertilized and incubated until they manage to break the shell of these eggs and in this way go out to the new world that awaits them.

As for the way they feed we can say that this habit is related to the cylindrical or tubular shape of its mouth, this feature makes them have to rely on small food, for example, small crustaceans (amphipods, mysid shrimp, larval fish) and plankton (species of animals or tiny plants floating in the water, favorite food of the leafy sea dragons), and not having teeth like the seahorse what it does is to suck such food by the shape of its mouth.

As for their life expectancy, we can say that according to studies carried out on this type of marine species in captivity, that is, outside their natural habitat, it is approximately 9 years, exceeding the life expectancy, in the same conditions, of the famous seahorse, since the latter manages to survive for about 5 years, Although any living species on this planet has some kind of predator in its natural habitat, the leafy seadragons do not escape from this aspect, but they do not escape from the actions of human beings either, since the latter represent their greatest danger with their fishing activities.

Although this marine species is not yet considered in danger of extinction, we can say that due to its particular characteristics it is a target of attention for fish collectors, but it is also affected by the increasing pollution of the seas, which as we know man has a great impact on it, however, as we have done in previous installments related to this thematic series, it is also necessary to highlight the enormous work of many people who day after day contribute to the creation of tools or technological applications to try to balance our marine species, as we have done in previous deliveries related to this thematic series, it is also necessary to highlight the enormous work of many people who day after day contribute so much to the creation of tools or technological applications to try to balance our precious ecosystem and value any species that is next to us in this beautiful home which we have called planet Earth.

Until another opportunity my dear readers, as you could read we continue knowing some of our marine species and this time we did it with the beautiful and striking leafy sea dragon of which we knew some of its main characteristics.

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Note: The gif at the beginning of this article is my own, and the images were created in Power Point and the animated gif in PhotoScape.

Bibliographic references consulted and recommended

[1] Characteristics of the leafy sea dragon.

[2]Leafy sea dragon.

[3]New technologies to explore the sea.