Ruby Sea Dragon

Known as the Ruby seadragon for its unusual bright red colouring, Phyllopteryx dewysea is only the third species of seadragon ever recorded in the world.

The species was identified and described by the WA Museum’s Dr Nerida Wilson and her colleagues, using DNA from a specimen trawled off Esperance in 2007 and linking it to other specimens with morphology, including one that washed up on Cottesloe beach in 1919.  The Cottesloe specimen has resided in the WA Museum’s collection for nearly 100 years and was critical in providing information necessary to prove the discovery of a new species.