The Seahorse Diet Requires Stealth and Patience in the Wild

When people picture marine predators, seahorses might not top the list. But make no mistake: The seahorse diet is all about stealth, patience and tiny snacks. These oddball fish have evolved a specialized way of eating that works perfectly with their unusual shape and behavior.

Seahorses swim upright, propelled by a tiny dorsal fin on their back and steered with even smaller pectoral fins on the sides of their head.

Because they’re poor swimmers, they rely on camouflage and stillness to ambush prey rather than chase it. Most species form territories and use their prehensile tail to anchor themselves to seagrass beds or coral reefs while they wait.

What Do Seahorses Eat?

Seahorses eat small crustaceans like copepods, mysis shrimp, ghost shrimp, and grass shrimp. They suck prey into th