Rare Weedy Seadragons Hatch At California Aquarium : NPR
A baby weedy seadragon swims at the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, Calif. Two of the rare fish hatched there recently, making the aquarium one of the few in the world to successfully breed them.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP
A baby weedy seadragon swims at the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, Calif. Two of the rare fish hatched there recently, making the aquarium one of the few in the world to successfully breed them.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP
After years of trying, a Southern California aquarium has two very tiny — and very rare — bundles of joy.
Two weedy seadragons recently hatched at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. The delicate creatures resemble bits of seaweed and are distant cousins of the seahorse. And they’re notoriously difficult to breed.
Birch announced the news on Thursday and is now one of only a few aquariums worldwide to get the finicky animal to reproduce in captivity. Jennifer Nero Moffatt, the aquarium’s senior director of animal care, science and conservation, called it a “momentous occasion.”
“Seadragons are charismatic, sensitive, and require detailed husbandry,” Moffatt said in a statement. “We have spent over 25 years working with these animals and love that we have made the next steps to conserve this delicate species.”
Birch Aquarium says it has bred 13 types of seahorses since 1995 and started its weedy seadragon program because of that track record of success.
For the first time ever we have successfully bred Weedy Seadragons and now has two babies behind the scenes! Only a handful of aquariums around the world have successfully bred these unusual fish. We are so proud of our Husbandry Team and their 25+ year effort. pic.twitter.com/iBvUTC56MR
— Birch Aquarium (@Birch_Aquarium) February 13, 2020
The aquarium says the inch-long babies are already feeding on tiny shrimp. They’ll grow to about 18 inches.
It’s not clear whether the newly hatched little ones are male or female — and the Birch says it likely won’t know until they reach sexual maturity in a few years.
The weedy seadragon, or Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, is native to waters off Australia. They have long, thin snouts and small fins that propel them through the water, though they often drift like seaweed.
As part of their mating rituals, the seadragons do a spinning dance, snout to snout — that’s how they transfer eggs from the female to the males.
Like other seahorses, the males carry the eggs after the females deposit them on the male’s spongy tail. The eggs incubate, then hatch in about six weeks.
The weedy seadragon, or Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, is a lesser-known cousin of the seahorse that resembles seaweed when floating.
Courtesy of Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Courtesy of Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP
The weedy seadragon, or Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, is a lesser-known cousin of the seahorse that resembles seaweed when floating.
Courtesy of Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP
The fish was once a “near-threatened” species but has since been designated as “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. That’s partially because there is little data on the population, according to the Birch Aquarium.
The creatures are especially hard to track because of their rugged and remote habitat along Australia’s southern coast — and weedy seadragons are good at camouflage.
But warming oceans and destructive fishing practices threaten their habitat, creating a greater need for aquariums to breed and study the rare animals, the aquarium said.
But if you’re in Southern California and want to get a glimpse at the teeny-tiny seadragons, don’t get your hopes up. The aquarium says they’ll stay behind-the-scenes and out of the public eye for now.
Great selection of modern and classic books waiting to be discovered. All free and available in most ereader formats. download free books
I have read so many posts about the blogger lovers however this post is really a good piece of writing, keep it up
I have read so many posts about the blogger lovers however this post is really a good piece of writing, keep it up
https://www.philadelphia.edu.jo/library/directors-message-library
https://www.philadelphia.edu.jo/library/directors-message-library
whoah this blog is wonderful i really like reading your articles. Keep up the great paintings! You realize, a lot of people are hunting round for this info, you could help them greatly.
I have read so many posts about the blogger lovers however this post is really a good piece of writing, keep it up
I recently came across your article and have been reading along. I want to express my admiration of your writing skill and ability to make readers read from the beginning to the end. I would like to read newer posts and to share my thoughts with you.
We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post. Great work
Glad to chat your blog, I seem to be forward to more reliable articles and I think we all wish to thank so many good articles, blog to share with us.
It is perfect time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!
Really nice and interesting post. I was looking for this kind of information and enjoyed reading this one.
I have read your excellent post. This is a great job. I have enjoyed reading your post first time. I want to say thanks for this post. Thank you…
I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to start my own Blog Engine blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a fine example of it.
deep web drug url dark market list how to get on dark web
black internet [url=https://kingdommarketurl.com/ ]darknet websites [/url] darknet market list
Wonderful blog post. This is absolute magic from you! I have never seen a more wonderful post than this one. You’ve really made my day today with this. I hope you keep this up!
Обновите свой гардероб вместе с самыми актуальными советами.
https://ladyz.kr.ua
I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article.
I just got to this amazing site not long ago. I was actually captured with the piece of resources you have got here. Big thumbs up for making such wonderful blog page!
I like viewing web sites which comprehend the price of delivering the excellent useful resource free of charge. I truly adored reading your posting. Thank you!
¿Cómo sé con quién está chateando mi esposo o esposa en WhatsApp? Entonces ya estás buscando la mejor solución. Escuchar a escondidas en un teléfono es mucho más fácil de lo que cree. Lo primero que debe instalar una aplicación espía en su teléfono es obtener el teléfono objetivo.