Leafy seadragon
Phycodurus eques (Günther, 1865)
The leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) is a bony fish in the family Syngnathidae, subfamily Syngnathinae, within the order Syngnathiformes. Its scientific name, Phycodurus eques, carries the authority (Günther, 1865), and it is placed in the genus Phycodurus.
Quick facts about the leafy seadragon
Other English names for it include Leafy sea-dragon, Glauerts seadragon and Glauert's sea-dragon. The IUCN Red List global assessment lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the leafy seadragon
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the leafy seadragon live?
Not recorded
What is the leafy seadragon?
The leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) or Glauert's seadragon, is a marine fish. It is the only member of the genus Phycodurus in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses.
It is found along the southern and western coasts of Australia. The name is derived from their appearance, with long leaf-like protrusions coming from all over the body. These protrusions are not used for propulsion; they serve only as camouflage. The leafy seadragon propels itself utilising a pair of pectoral fins on the sides of its neck and a dorsal fin on its back closer to the tail end. These small fins are almost completely transparent and difficult to see as they undulate minutely to move the creature sedately through the water, completing the illusion of floating seaweed.
Popularly known as "leafies", they are the marine emblem of the state of South Australia and a focus for local marine conservation.
From the Wikipedia article “Leafy seadragon” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leafy_seadragon&oldid=1381395295), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the leafy seadragon endangered?
The leafy seadragon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the leafy seadragon classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderSyngnathiformes
- familySyngnathidae
- genusPhycodurus
- SpeciesPhycodurus eques (Günther, 1865)
Synonyms Phycodorus eques, Phycodurus glauerti, Phyllopteryx eques
Other names and names in other languages (47)
- Glauert's sea-dragonEnglish
- Glauerts seadragonEnglish
- Glauerts seadragonEnglish
- Leafy sea-dragonEnglish
- تنين البحر المورقArabic
- dragón de mar foliaceuAsturian
- листовиден морски драконBulgarian
- cavallet de mar foliaciCatalan
- PjaltefiskDanish
- Großer FetzenfischGerman
- Algeca hipokampoEsperanto
- Dragón de Mar FoliadoSpanish
- Dragón Marino de GlauertSpanish
- Austraalia narmaskalaEstonian
- Hostodun itsas dragoiBasque
- اژدهای دریایی برگدارPersian
- LevämerihevonenFinnish
- RaitalehvähevonenFinnish
- hippocampe feuilleFrench
- dragon de mer feuilluFrench
- סוסון האצהHebrew
- leveles tengeri sárkányHungarian
- տերևավոր ծովային վիշապArmenian
- Naga laut berdaunIndonesian
- Dragone fogliaItalian
- Dragone di mare fogliaItalian
- リーフィーシードラゴンJapanese
- 나뭇잎해룡Korean
- листен морски змејMacedonian
- Hio̍h-á Hái-liôngMin Nan Chinese
- Grote rafelvisDutch
- pławikonik australijskiPolish
- dragão-marinho-folhadoPortuguese
- Dragão-marinhoPortuguese
- ТряпичникRussian
- Морской конёк-тряпичникRussian
- Velika avstralska algovnicaSlovenian
- Морски лиснати коњићSerbian
- FlikfiskSwedish
- கடல் வேதாளம்Tamil
- มังกรทะเลใบไม้Thai
- Yapraklı Deniz EjderiTurkish
- Hải long láVietnamese
- 葉海龍Chinese
- 枝叶海马Chinese
- 枝葉海馬Chinese
- 葉形海龍Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the leafy seadragon
Other species in the same family Syngnathidae.
Weedy seadragon
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus
Seahorse
Hippocampus guttulatus
Pygmy seahorse
Hippocampus bargibanti
Horn-eel
Syngnathus acus
Sea pony
Hippocampus kuda
Snouted pipefish
Syngnathus typhle
CompareLeafy seadragon vs Weedy seadragonLeafy seadragon vs SeahorseLeafy seadragon vs Pygmy seahorseLeafy seadragon vs Horn-eel
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the leafy seadragon?
The leafy seadragon is a bony fish. It belongs to the family Syngnathidae in the order Syngnathiformes.
What is the scientific name of the leafy seadragon?
Its scientific name is Phycodurus eques, in the genus Phycodurus.
Who named the leafy seadragon and when?
The species name Phycodurus eques is attributed to Günther, 1865, written as (Günther, 1865).
Is the leafy seadragon endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List global assessment lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
What other names does the leafy seadragon have?
It is also called Leafy sea-dragon, Glauerts seadragon and Glauert's sea-dragon.
What family does the leafy seadragon belong to?
It belongs to the family Syngnathidae, subfamily Syngnathinae.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/leafy-seadragon
“Leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/leafy-seadragon.
@misc{leafy_seadragon_2026,
title = {Leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/leafy-seadragon},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}