Article History
Received: 26 January 2023
Accepted: 16 May 2023
First Online: 29 May 2023
Declarations
:
: Non-lethal sampling of the dermal appendages with subsequent release of common seadragons was authorized by the following institutions. Western Australia: Permit SF 5126, Department of Conservation & Land Management, Western Australia: SPA 9/05, Authority to take fish for scientific purposes under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994, Department of Fisheries, Western Australia. Exemption number 2726, Exemption from the Fish Resources Management Act 1994, Department of Fisheries, Western Australia. South Australia: Exemption number 9901842 to the Fisheries Act 1982, Sect. 59, Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia. Victoria: Permit PA18 for Protected Aquatic Biota, Fisheries Victoria. New South Wales: Scientific Collection Permit, NSW Department of Primary Industries P07/0009 and P07/0011. Permit for activity in a Commonwealth Reserve (Boodaree National Park) BDR07/00005. Tasmania: Permit 7115 under the Living Marine Resources Management Act, Department of Primary Industries and Water Wild Fisheries Branch. Permit 12112 issued under §14 of the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995, Department of Primary Industries and Water Wild Fisheries Branch.Sampling followed an animal use protocol (S12285) approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University of California, San Diego, and was approved by the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water & Environment (DPIPWE) Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) of the Tasmanian Government (AEC project no. 11/2012–13). Tissue samples were exported to the USA under the Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Water Resources permit WT2007-1290 and WT2012-8203, and used for DNA studies at UCSD under tissue transfer protocol T07215.
: Not applicable.
: Josefin Stiller serves on the editorial board of <i>BMC Biology</i>. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.