What Do Seahorses Eat?
A Unique Group of Fish Species
The seahorse is one of
54 different species of fish in the marine genus Hippocampus—a word that comes
from the Greek word for "horse." Only a small handful of species are
commonly seen in tropical and temperate waters of both the Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans. They range in size from tiny, 1/2-inch fish to nearly 14 inches in
length. Seahorses are one of the only fish that swim in an upright position and
are the slowest-swimming of all fishes. Seahorses are generally considered to
be an evolved form of pipefish.
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How Sea Horses Eat
Because they swim so
slowly, eating can be a challenge for the seahorse. Further complicating things
is the fact that a seahorse has no stomach. It needs to eat almost constantly
because food quickly passes straight through its digestive system. According
to The Seahorse Trust, an adult seahorse
will eat 30 to 50 times per day, while baby seahorses eat 3,000 pieces of food per day.
Seahorses do not have
teeth; they suck in their food and swallow it whole. Thus their prey needs to
be very small. Primarily, seahorses feed on plankton, small fish and small
crustaceans, such as shrimp and copepods.
To compensate for its
lack of swimming speed, a seahorse's neck is well adapted for catching prey,
reports Scientific American. Seahorses ambush their prey by hovering silently
nearby, attached to plants or corals and often camouflaged to blend in with their
surroundings. Suddenly, the seahorse will tilt its head and slurp in its prey.
This movement results in a distinctive sound.
Unlike their relatives,
the pipefish, seahorses can extend their heads forward, a process that is aided
by their curving neck. Although they can't swim as well as pipefish, The
seahorse has the ability to stealthily reach out and strike their prey. This
means that they can wait for prey to pass by their perch, rather than actively
pursuing them—a task that is difficult given their very slow speed. The hunt
for prey is also aided by the seahorse's eyes, which have evolved to move
independently, allowing them an easier search for prey.
Seahorses as Aquarium Specimens
What about captive
seahorses? Seahorses are popular in the aquarium trade, and there is currently
a movement to raise seahorses in captivity to protect the wild population. With
coral reefs in danger, the native habitat of the seahorse is also challenged,
leading to ethical concerns about harvesting them from the wild for the
aquarium trade. Further, captive-bred seahorses seem to thrive better in
aquariums than do captured wild seahorses.
However, efforts to
breed seahorses in captivity is somewhat complicated by the fact that young
seahorses prefer live food that must be very small, given the tiny size of the
young seahorses. While they are often fed frozen crustaceans, captive seahorses
do better when feeding on live food. An article in the journal Aquaculture,
suggests that live wild- or captive-raised copepods (tiny crustaceans) and rotifers are a good food source that
allows young seahorses to thrive in captivity.
References and Further Information:
Bai, N. 2011. How the
Seahorse Got Its Curves. Scientific American. Accessed August 29, 2013.
Birch Aquarium. Secrets
of the Seahorse. Accessed August 29, 2013.
Project Seahorse. Why
Seahorse? Essential Facts About Seahorses. Accessed August 29, 2013.
Scales, H. 2009.
Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, From Myth to Reality. Gotham Books.
Souza-Santos, L.P.
2013. Prey Selection of Juvenile Seahorses. Aquaculture: 404-405:35-40.
Accessed August 29, 2013.
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