Most fish require meat in their diet, which they obtain from insects, worms, or smaller fish. Larger, carnivorous fish, on the other hand, will primarily feed on other fish, small mammals, or birds. In general, the larger the fish, the larger the prey it will pursue and consume.
Fish consume a wide range of foods; however, their specific diet is determined by their natural surroundings, the eco-system in which they live, and a variety of other factors. Some fish are sluggish scavengers who will eat whatever they come across, while other fish eat only other fish.
What do Clown Fish Eat?
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Clown fish are bright orange little fish that live in a symbiotic relationship with sea anemones. The clown fish brush themselves regularly against the stinging tentacles of the anemone, giving them immunity from its toxin and thus also giving them a perfect shelter from predators.
In return, they help the anemone in two ways. First, the clown fish eats small invertebrates which would hurt the anemone, including algae; tiny mollusks; and crustaceans known as copepods, Mysidacea, and isopods. It can also eat the discarded foods not absorbed by the anemone. Second, the feces of the clown fish provides valuable nutrients to the anemone.
Clown fish are popular choices for fish enthusiasts thanks to their bright colors. If you have one or two in your aquarium, they can survive on basic fish food, but they also need algae and preferably live food such as brine shrimp to stay healthy.
What do salmon eat?
Salmon are a type of fish that live in the ocean and then swim upriver to breed and lay their eggs. They are carnivorous by nature, and their delicious flavor makes them popular for humans and other predators alike. In the wild, young salmon hatch and are carried downstream toward the ocean, where they eat small plankton and algae until they are big enough to hunt larger prey.
Young adults eat aquatic bugs like skippers, mayflies, stoneflies, mosquitoes, dragonflies and worms, as well as small shrimp, tadpoles, fish and eggs. Adult salmon are powerful hunters and eat fish such as smelts, herrings, krill, mackerels and young cod or tuna. When it’s time to return to their rivers of birth and lay their own eggs, salmon stop eating entirely for the duration of their journey.
What do tuna eat?
While there are many different species of tuna that live in all the world oceans the tuna fish has a rather consistent diet. Small fish ranging from 1.5 inches up to 6 inches are the mainstay of their diets. Tuna are also know to eat squid and will occasionally eat available crustaceans, though rarely. Some of the fish that tuna eat are: skipjack, flying fish, lancetfish, puffer fish, and Juvenal surgeonfish, triggerfish and rabbitfish. One of the favorite crustaceans of the tuna is crab larvae.
What do Catfish eat?
Catfish are bottom-dwelling fish with whisker-like appendages on their noses. Like most fish, they are predatory and can reach over 100 pounds in weight! Because they grow so large and are very tasty, catfish can live both in the wild and on farms. Wild catfish swim along the bottom of rivers, ponds and lakes looking for anything that has fallen from the surface.
So what do catfish eat? Well, Catfish eat dead fish, snails, worms, animal feces, aquatic bugs, rotting plant vegetation, fish such as minnows and bass, leeches and carrion from other animals that have died in the water, like birds or even deer. Catfish aren’t picky and will eat just about anything. This makes them easy to farm, and in captivity they are fed a wide variety of foods including specifically formulated fish food; leftover scraps of meat from chickens, fish, pigs and cattle; and plenty of worms and other bugs.
What do Great White Sharks Eat?
Great white sharks are the biggest predatory fish in the ocean, with a well-earned and fearsome reputation. Great white sharks eat just about anything they feel like, with only a few aquatic animals, such as whales, being able to evade capture.
Their most common meals are large mammals such as seals, sea lions, sea otters, dolphins, porpoises and smaller whales like Belugas. They also consume plenty of fish, with tuna, salmon, sting rays and other sharks being their favored targets. Other prey includes sea otters, penguins, turtles and sea birds.
Great white sharks don’t take care of their young, so babies have to be ready to hunt from the day they’re born. Young great whites start with smaller targets like fish, moving up to harbor seals as they grow. Eventually they eat larger prey such as seals almost exclusively, hunting by ambushing from below. For more on what do sharks eat please visit the sharks site, which will have information on many different types of sharks.
What do Seahorses Eat?
Seahorses may look like horses with fins, but they are actually fish! In the wild, seahorses are carnivores that cling to plants and suck up small prey through their long snouts. These victims are usually small crustaceans like tiny shrimp, but they also eat krill, larval crabs, plankton, aquatic bugs and baby fish.
They have no teeth, so everything they eat is consumed whole, and most seahorses spend the whole day sucking in food. As babies, seahorses are so tiny that all they can eat are nearly-microscopic brine shrimp.
When kept in an aquarium, seahorses raised in captivity can be fed special seahorse food, or they will also eat frozen mysis shrimp. Wild seahorses that have been caught, however, will only eat the live food that they are accustomed to.
