At 01:01 AM 3/13/2003 -0500, Krazy Kiwi wrote:
>On Fri, 7 Mar 2003 M. Bevelhimer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>Funnily enough my FAVOURITE close-up pic of a leafy makes mention of the
>Oregon & Tennesse aquariums :-)  Click on link below to check out all the
>beautiful colo(u)rs & markings.
>http://www.divegallery.com/leafy_dragon_head_detail.htm

That's an amazing pic, Viv!

>Lots of reasearch commenced in to the feasibility of farming seahorses for
>research and supply of disease free stock for the aquarium trade.  The flow-
>on from that was some went further - supply of dried seahorses for Chinese
>medicine.

Hey Feesh, any dried seahorses popping up in the back alley Chinese
medicine shops in ChooChoo town?  (we'll see if this get's him to drop the
dice for a minute.)

>Many members of WAUPS became involved in Dragon Search WA which is a
>community monitoring program. Over the last 4 years I've given out 100's of
>sighting report sheets to divers, snorkellers, recreational fishers &
>beachcombers.  Other members of WAUPS, who through their work have had to
>go out on trawlers to collect data on by-catch, etc, have also been busy
>filling in forms if any seadragons have been accidentally caught.

Sounds like a neat project. It's awfully tough for scientist to make any
real strides in preservation without some public support in one form or
another.

> >The Choo-choo aquarium has successfully bred two batches of
> >leafy seadragons (like they had anything to do with the actual
> >breeding).  They believe they are some of first to be bred in
> >captivity.
>
>Ummm, if you are talking the US, probably right.  But worldwide no. I don't
>know about any where else in southern OZ but here, at Perth's Underwater
>World (now known as AQWA), their leafy seadragon breeding program began in
>1989. Most of theirs are released back in to the wild.  Here is an account
>of those breeding efforts back in the 1990s.
>http://www.dragonsearch.asn.au/newslett/vol2_1/vol2_1.html#dbreed

I probably heard wrong, he probably meant in the States, But, OTOH the
above link says...
"In the last few years we have achieved a lot.  Our knowledge of the
reproductive cycle is getting broader, but still is not complete. At
Underwater World we have hatched and reared the young Leafy Seadragons from
berried (egg bearing) males caught in the wild.  ... We have also
observed the courtship and pairing of male and female in preparation for
reproduction but so far the transfer of eggs has been unsuccessful."

Also,

"The most recent attempt by our pair of Leafy Seadragons to transfer eggs
was unsuccessful, we believe due to interference of two other seadragons
housed in the same aquarium.  The eggs were released by the female and she
was found floating on the surface the next morning, totally exhausted.  By
the afternoon she was swimming again and feeding well. ... We are also
unsure if the female can produce eggs more than once in their lifetime.  If
wild female Leafy Seadragons are so exhausted after spawning, it is quite
possible that they are getting washed up on beaches and dying afterwards."

If we ever find you washed up on the beach ....

>Viv

-Mark