Little Dragonfish

Threats to E. draconis include being taken as bycatch in fishing gears that collect fish from near the bottom. Bycatch of E. draconis has been reported in China (Vincent 1997), the Philippines (Pajaro et al. 2004) and Australia (Stobutzki et al. 2001). A review of species taken as bycatch in the Australian prawn fishery rated E. draconis as having high susceptibility to capture by trawls (Stobutzki et al. 2001). In the Philippines, E. draconis was taken as bycatch in modified Danish seines more often than in otter trawls and it was estimated that in the Danajon Bank, approximately 132,480 individuals were caught, on average, annually as bycatch based on interviews with fishers (Pajaro et al. 2004). Sea moths in general that are caught as bycatch in China often enter the medicinal trade, although this species was not specifically identified (Vincent 1997). Although they are caught in small numbers in individual catches, this may collectively add up to millions of individual animals and a substantial portion of the breeding population (as has been shown for the related seahorses - Lawson et al. 2017).

Sea moth species began appearing in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the 1980s, and are now traded by several Asian countries, including southern China and Hong Kong, although the scale and impact of the trade remains unclear (Vincent 1997, Lourie et al. 1999). While E. draconis individuals are found in the live trade, they are used less often than other sea moth species (Pajaro et al. 2004).

Extraction of live specimens of E. draconis for the aquarium trade is performed by compressor divers (Pajaro et al. 2004). Collections have also been performed with hand nets (Herold and Clark 1993). Since E. draconis lives in deeper waters, it is collected less often for the aquarium trade than other sea moths.

Sea moths in general may possess characteristics that make them unsuited to heavy exploitation, such as low population densities and established long-term pair bonds of one male and one female that mate repeatedly (Kuiter 1985, Herold and Clark 1993, Vincent 1997).