How Seahorses Hunt Their Prey

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Published Nov 28, 2013

Have you ever wondered how seahorses hunt their prey? The underwater creatures are slow swimmers, but the shape of their face allows them to sneak up on the animals they are hunting.

Have you ever wondered how seahorses hunt their prey?

The underwater creatures are slow swimmers, but the shape of their face, specifically their long snout, allows them to sneak up on the animals they are hunting.

Seahorses eat crustaceans that can swim a lot faster than them, but the hydrodynamics of their face makes them undetectable to their prey.

This method is effective, with seahorses reportedly catching their intended target 90 percent of the time in calm water.

Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin studied the hunting technique of one species of seahorse and found that there is a no wake zone around the nostrils on their face.

By filming the movement of water around a dwarf seahorse using three dimensional holography, the researchers were able to analyze how seahorses are such effective killers.

Doctor Brad Gemmell who worked on the study is quoted as saying: "It's like an arms race between predator and prey, and the seahorse has developed a good method for getting close enough so that their striking distance is very short."

Effective hunting range for seahorses is about 1 millimeter away from their target, and their attack can happen in less than a millisecond

Category: Tech News

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