March 2012 the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, USA, announced a successful breeding event of common seadragons. As of July 2012, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has also successfully bred and hatched out baby common seadragons on exhibit. Threats The common seadragon is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List 2017 . While the common seadragon is a desired species in the international aquarium trade, the volume of wild-caught individuals is small and therefore not currently a major threat. Instead, habitat loss and degradation due to human activities and pollution threaten common seadragons most. The loss of suitable seagrass beds and loss of canopy seaweed from inshore rock reefs, coupled with natural history traits that make them poor dispersers, put the future of seadragon populations at risk. This species is not at present a victim of bycatch or a target of trade in traditional Chinese medicine, two activities which are currently a threat to many related seahorse and pipefish populations. Conservation It is illegal to take or export these species in most of the states within which they occur. A database of seadragon sightings, known as 'Dragon Search' has been established with support from the Marine Life Society of South Australia Inc., ('Dragon Search' arose as the logical progression of a similar project initiated by the MLSSA, which was the first community group or indeed organisation of any type to adopt the common seadragon's close relative, the leafy seadragon, as part of its logo), the Marine and Coastal Community Network (MCCN), the Threatened Species Network (TSN) and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), which encourages divers to report sightings. Monitoring of populations may provide indications of local water quality and seadragons could also become an important 'flagship' species for the often-overlooked richness of the unique flora and fauna of Australia's south coast. Captive breeding programs are in place for the weedy seadragon, headed up by Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium. The dragon has been difficult to breed in captivity, though in 2015 research observing the creatures in the wild and trying to replicate the conditions in captivity had researchers making changes to the light, water temperature and water flow proving to be key. In December 2015 the Melbourne aquarium hatched eggs and the aquarium's weedy seadragon population significantly increased. The aquarium reported in March 2016 that 45 fry were still going strong—a 95% survival rate. Related species The common seadragon