What foods do seahorses eat?

Seahorses feed on a variety of foods that include plankton, small fish, and crustaceans such as copepods and shrimp. In the wild, most seahorses only eat live food and are ambush predators. Seahorses don’t have teeth, so the food they prey upon must be small.

When hunting, seahorses hover nearby, clinging to coral or plants that provide camouflage. By reaching their heads forward and striking, they can quickly ambush their prey.

Seahorses lack a stomach, so food passes through them very quickly, resulting in a need to eat almost constantly. Adult seahorses eat as many as 30 to 50 times a day, while babies eat up to 3,000 pieces of food per day.