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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — After 15 years of trying to breed weedy sea dragons, the New England Aquarium finally succeeded in hatching a batch of the rare species to put out for an anticipated exhibition this summer.
The near threatened species is typically found in waters east and south of Australia.
"Seadragons are related to seahorses and pipefish— while not listed as 'threatened' or 'endangered,' their numbers are in question and are impacted by a lot of the same issues that we see with ocean animals around the world with climate change, habitat degradation, and pollution," said Manager of the NEA Permanent Galleries Team Jeremy Brodt.
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About 20 seadragons were born at the NEA, officials said.
"Like seahorses, weedy seadragons have reverse sex roles and the males are the ones that actually carry the eggs. Our male seadragon accepted eggs in our exhibit. To better care for him and the eggs, we decided to move him off exhibit into our holding tank so that we could be a little bit more attuned to his needs, his feeding, as well as keep a closer eye on the eggs as they developed," Brodt said.
Following birth, the baby weedy seadragons come out to be two centimeters but rapidly grow in size in the first several months of life— at a rate of about one centimeter a week, officials said.
WBZ's Brooke McCarthy (@BrookeWBZ) reports.
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