Jellyfish eat a variety of foods both in the wild and in your tank. They eat phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish eggs, and larvae, which are young fish. They also eat planktonic eggs and the young stages of many other types of marine animals. Some jellyfish even eat other jellyfish.
Before we get into what jellyfish eat let us take a look at jellyfish as a species.
Jellyfish are mysterious creatures that drift through the ocean’s waters worldwide. With their translucent bodies and trailing tentacles, they almost look like aliens floating under the sea. But what do these bizarre animals eat? Can jellyfish prey on quick little shrimp? Let’s find out!
An Overview of the Jellyfish Diet
There are around 2000 different jellyfish species, but most have a similar carnivorous diet. They usually eat
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Plankton – Tiny drifting organisms are the jellyfish’s main food source. By floating near the water’s surface jellyfish easily catch plankton with their tentacles.
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Small fish – Fish and fish eggs provide essential nutrients for jellyfish growth Jellyfish wait in areas populated by small fish to sting and eat any that pass by
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Crustaceans – Crabs, lobsters, and shrimp make up part of some jellyfish species’ diets. But shrimp move too quickly for most jellyfish to catch.
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Other jellyfish – Larger jellyfish sometimes eat smaller jellyfish of different species when food is scarce. Most jellyfish provide little nutrition though.
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Plants – Young jellyfish eat phytoplankton, algae, and seaweed. These plants offer beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Do Jellyfish Hunt Shrimp?
Shrimp swim rapidly and often stay near the seafloor where jellyfish don’t venture. So shrimp don’t frequently appear on jellyfish menus. But a few large, quick jellyfish species do sometimes manage to catch shrimp, including:
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Lion’s mane jellyfish – The largest known jellyfish, reaching over 6 feet wide. With their strong stings and speed, they can stun passing shrimp.
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Sea wasps – These small but fast box jellyfish live in shallow, shrimp-filled waters. Their toxins can paralyze shrimp for eating.
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Moon jellies – Not natural shrimp hunters. But in captivity, moon jellies can learn to catch brine shrimp fed to them.
How Do Jellyfish Eat Shrimp?
When a jellyfish ensnares a shrimp in its tentacles, its stinging cells release toxins that paralyze the shrimp. The jellyfish then moves the immobilized shrimp to its mouth-like opening using contracting tentacle motions.
Since jellyfish lack teeth or chewing abilities, they swallow shrimp whole through this mouth. Inside the jellyfish, digestive enzymes break down the shrimp into nutrients the jellyfish can absorb. Any indigestible shrimp parts later exit through the mouth as waste.
Do Shrimp Eat Jellyfish?
While not a preferred food, some shrimp species do eat jellyfish, especially in captivity when other options are lacking. Shrimp with stronger mouthparts like pistol shrimp can bite off pieces of jellyfish flesh.
Soft jellyfish tentacles and oral arms often become meals for shrimp and other crustaceans. Shrimp also pick at and consume dying jellyfish that have washed up onshore or sunk towards the seafloor.
The Interconnected Ocean Food Web
Jellyfish and shrimp occupy very different ocean habitats – open water vs seafloor. So jellyfish don’t heavily rely on shrimp, and shrimp don’t subsist primarily on jellyfish. But sometimes these foods do appear on their menus, demonstrating the ocean’s interconnected food web.
Mostly tiny plankton sustains numerous jellyfish drifting through the sea. And shrimp dine more on seabed detritus and plants. But opportunistic feeding does occur between shrimp and jellyfish, though limited.
Overall jellyfish and shrimp coexist as successful hunters and prey in the ocean’s expansive buffet of food options. Their varied diets and habitats let these intriguing animals flourish throughout our amazing marine world.
What Do Jellyfish Eat?
Jellyfish are fish that eat meat. They are called opportunistic predators because they will eat anything that comes their way, but they are not hunters. Jellyfish will eat any live food or tiny sea animals that will fit in their mouth.
What Do Baby Jellyfish (Ephyrae) Eat?
Baby jellyfish have a different diet than adult jellyfish.
Baby jellyfish have more limitations on their diet and hunting grounds than adult jellyfish. They can only eat small pieces of food, eggs or larvae, or even other ephyrae because their mouths and bodies are so small.
Most people don’t know about baby jellyfish because they are only 1-2 millimeters long and their bells haven’t formed yet. Many people refer to a small adult jellyfish as a baby because of its relative size.
If you purchase a “baby” jellyfish that has a developed bell it is really a smaller jellyfish. Usually, these small jellyfish are fed brine shrimp eggs or small shrimp, freshly hatched brine shrimp.
Jelly Fish Feeding
Do jellyfish eat shrimp?
Jellyfish do not actively hunt for food. They float freely and will eat anything that comes their way. As long as the prey is small and can fit into their mouth, they will attack and swallow it. They eat shrimp, krill, larvae… Are Jellyfish Herbivores, Carnivores, or Omnivores?
What do jellyfish eat?
In their natural habitat, jellyfish will eat lobsters, shrimps, and other small marine organisms. But in captivity where there isn’t much variety, their diet will primarily be brine shrimps. They capture their food with their venomous nematocysts and they can eat anything that comes near them as long as it can fit in their mouths.
Do jellyfish eat crustaceans?
Some larger jellyfish species feed on crustaceans, such as lobsters, crabs, and shrimp. However, crustaceans are not a regular food source for jellyfish due to their size and agility. When a jellyfish does manage to catch a crustacean, it traps it within its stingers.
Do jellyfish eat crabs?
Huge and mature jellyfish eat crabs just like any crustaceans. They eat crabs, shrimps and very small fish. They catch the fish with their tentacles, inject it with venoms and move them through their oral tentacles straight into their mouth. Do Jellyfish Eat Starfish? Starfish are extremely difficult animals for jellyfish to kill and eat.