Have you seen this? Looking out to sea from the tropical south and west coast of Austria, a diver observing the sea very closely can easily miss this genital and well-camouflaged marine fish in plain sight, the sea dragon. Although they look very similar to the seahorse, sea dragons are quite strikingly different and are divided into two diverse genera and species, Phycodurus eques (leafy sea dragons) and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (weedy sea dragons). Here you will learn about taxonomic classification (Kingdom, Phylums/Division, Class, Order, Family Genus, Species), physical characteristics/biology, habitat, ecology and much more. Let's take a closer look at this creature. As you direct your attention to sea dragon taxonomy, you will notice that our of the five kingdoms, Animalia or Metazoa, is best suited for this particular organism because it is multicellular and eukaryoticheterotrophic (the bodies do not make their own food). ), have some kind of skeletal support system and reproduce sexually (Myers). Next, the sea dragon phylum is Chordata. Chordata is the phylum that includes all animals that possess a notochord, or nerve cord, at some stage of their development (Kennedy). The class of this animal is Actinopterygii. After that comes their order which is the Syngnathiformes. Sea dragons also belong to the family Syngnathidae, which derives from the Greek meaning "fused jaw", a trait that all members of this family have in common (Sara A). As a member of the family Syngnathidae, which are primarily marine fishes and include approximately 200 species of pipefish in 54 genera, including the weedy sea dragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) and the leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques)(eol ). Now that we have stated the toaxomic classification, it is time to acclimatize...... middle of paper ...... Web. April 20, 2014. .• Myers, Phil. "Animals." Web on animal diversity. Np, and Web. April 20, 2014. • “Phycodurus Eques”. (Glauerts sea dragon, leafy sea dragon). Np, and Web. April 20, 2014. • « Pipefish and seahorses (Syngnathidae) – Information on pipefish and seahorses – Encyclopedia of life. » Encyclopedia of life. Np, and Web. April 20, 2014. • “Project Seahorse: Advancing Marine Conservation.” » Essential facts about Seadragons. Np, and Web. April 20, 2014. .• “Weedy Seadragon.” PRIMEFACT. NP, 2011. Web. April 20. 2014. .