Sea Dragons? is it possible?

[snorvich]

I intentionally did not give out the exact location (although it was not the one you mentioned) as the guy I went diving with preferred that it remain out of print. The leafy sea dragons are definitely protected; I don't recall if the weedy sea dragons are as well. I was a tad nervous when I was photographing them as there were seals and sea lions in the area and you know what likes them for lunch . . .

 

[Abraham1907]

Personally, I think they are ugly and wouldn't want one in my tank....

 

[Freed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8317898#post8317898 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mal40
Soooo much mis-information.

They are not illegal in the USA.
They do not require permits.
They are not CITES listed, they are 'data deficient' which means they dont know enough to list.
They can be bought ( Phyllopteryx taeniolatus ) by the home aquarist, but the sellers are usually picky on who they sell to.
They are as dificult to maintain as say a wild caught seahorse.
They require a large tank 500 gallons upwards.
They usually die over 21 degrees C.
They do take frozen foods.

Could you please post where you found this information? Thanks

 

[rmougey]

These are such beautiful animals! I've only seem then in aquariums, with Perth having the best display I've seen. Kangaroo Island is on my list though!

I've seen weedy sea dragons diving off Manly/Shelly beach in Sydney.

Interesting about the safety diver.... I wasn't aware. The weedys are pretty used to seeing divers where I was.

When I visit a public aquarium, I always end up with many shots of sea dragons, few shots of anything else.

-Rob

 

[lux_06]

snorvich, u got to have a known guide to take you to the spot i mentioned, no way of finding them without a local... sounds like u enjoyed k.i.

 

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8318336#post8318336 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lux_06
yeh i have a beach house near Kangraoo island and have been diving at the rapid bay jetty where we watched a pair living in a group of old tyres and bottles that were dumped over the edge.

they ARE protected, so protected in fact the enitre area is under consideration to become a marine park just because of this one pair. my dive instructor and good friend works for the South Australian Government and is one of the researchers resposnsible for the new marine parks in this area. Fishing on this jetty has been banned.

they are a South Australian Icon and we never stop hearing about "Save the leafy sea dragon" youd be shot here if u were caught with one.....

Someone gave a talk on them and I was told that the collector for the exhibit (which travels around public aquaria) has a permit to collect one pregnant male per year. Once the male releases the babies the male must be returned to the same collection point.

Both very true -- I would consider suspect any info provided about these fish by someone who wasn't aware of the above quotes.

 

[snorvich]

lux_06 -- yes I enjoyed KI although not only the underwater part. It was simply a good time all around. The only part I did not enjoy was the trip down to the boat. I felt it was as close to vertical as I ever want to be. Going down was no picnic, going up was equally scary. Of course, it was a local guide who is knowledgeable and protective of the wonderful leafy sea dragons.


rmougey - I don't think the Weedy dragons have the same decompression issue as we did not use a safety diver when looking at and photographing them.

 

[stykthyn]

there was a lady in hawaii that was breeding them and the price was around 10-12k. they would show up periodically(once a year) on the order list at the LFS I used to frequent.

 

[The Fish Finder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8317898#post8317898 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mal40
Soooo much mis-information.

They are not illegal in the USA.
They do not require permits.
They are not CITES listed, they are 'data deficient' which means they dont know enough to list.
They can be bought ( Phyllopteryx taeniolatus ) by the home aquarist, but the sellers are usually picky on who they sell to.
They are as dificult to maintain as say a wild caught seahorse.
They require a large tank 500 gallons upwards.
They usually die over 21 degrees C.
They do take frozen foods.

There are three breeders in the UK, one is private, two are aquaria.
There are three breeders in the USA who are attempting to brred them commercially. ( read seahorse.com carefully! )

The current cost in the USA ( if you are suitable ) is about $2000 each.

Thank you for saveing me some typeing time. It's good to see ppl that don't go with the flow and state the known facts. And if your buying them from a wholesaler to sell in your store there even cheeper then that.

 

[ClamIAm]

There is so much conflicting information about them, it's really hard to know what is true and what isn't. One thing everyone has agreed on is their large and expensive tank requirements and difficulty to keep.

 

[mal40]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8332640#post8332640 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Fish Finder
Thank you for saveing me some typeing time. It's good to see ppl that don't go with the flow and state the known facts. And if your buying them from a wholesaler to sell in your store there even cheeper then that.

I guess you can listen to the 'noise' about them costing $25000 and being illegal and so on and so on....

Or

You can listen to the few people that actually deal with them, or have insider knowledge of the fish industry to know the current wholesale price. If you are an institution in the USA you can look at around $450 plus shipping. I am guessing that as the person asked the question in this forum, you are not going to be buying wholesale, so as a private person you are going to look at $2000 - this would include the shipping costs, as they are an end consumer. A common issue is that the laws of one state in Australia, combined with the laws of the whole of Australia are misunderstood to be laws relating to the USA. The bloke that can collect a pregnant male each year, can sell the 90 or so weedies he gets legally within Australia, but typically he will get a better price in Europe or the USA, so will export them. Once they land in the USA they are just fish. If you have the contacts, you can buy them and there is no law or any other restriction on what you do with them. ( except possibly releasing them in the wild.. )

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8321683#post8321683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
Could you please post where you found this information? Thanks

Which information, I provided several lines of information:
That they are not illegal or require permits in the USA - USFWS
That they are not CITES listed as endangered - see below...
That they can be bought in the USA - PM me and I will send you contact information, but you will be grilled before they will consider selling to you.
That they are as difficult to maintain as a wild caught seahorse - personal experiance
That they require a large tank over 500 gallons - personal experimentation, although I know of a pair in a much smaller tank for 18 months
That they die if the temperature goes over 21 degrees - Sealife Centre Bournemouth
That they take frozen foods - personal experiance.


I went back to check my sources, and on REDLIST.org I found that in 2006 the information was updated from 'Data deficient' to 'Near Threatened' The upshot of this has no real meaning. It is not a species listed as threatened by CITES. They have examined the data and decided it is Near Threatened. So it has the same legal impact as before when it was data deficient.


http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/17177/summ

More information is available about weedy seadragons than when the species was last assessed, and this has resulted in a reassessment of Near Threatened (NT).