Fish are an important food source for many animals around the world. Their high protein content and easy catchability make them a prime target for predators In this article, we’ll explore the diverse animals that eat fish as a major part of their diet.
Birds that Eat Fish
Many birds rely on fish as their staple food, Here are some of the most common fish-eating birds
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Bald Eagles – These large raptors use their incredible eyesight and sharp talons to catch fish. They mainly eat fish exceeding 16 inches long but also prey on ducks herons and small mammals.
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Ospreys – Also called sea hawks, ospreys dive into water to catch fish. They eat mostly small fish like mullet, trout and bass.
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Pelicans – These massive water birds scoop up fish while swimming on the water’s surface. They can eat up to 4 pounds of fish in one meal.
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Seagulls – Opportunistic feeders, seagulls often steal fish from other birds or pick up dead fish floating on water. They also probe for fish such as sand lances in shallow waters.
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Herons – Long-legged herons like egrets and blue herons stalk shorelines and wait patiently to spear fish. The great blue heron eats mainly small fish like minnows, sunfish and catfish.
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Cormorants – Expert divers, cormorants plunge 30 feet underwater to catch fish. They eat around 1 pound of fish daily including small eels, carp and perch.
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Kingfishers – These brightly colored birds grab fish by plunge diving from perches overhanging water. They eat small fish and aquatic invertebrates.
Mammals that Prey on Fish
Many marine and freshwater mammals have adapted to hunting fish:
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Bears – Grizzly and black bears scoop salmon and other fish from rivers and streams. Bears eat mostly vegetation but fish provide important protein and fat.
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River otters – Sleek swimmers, otters feed on a variety of fish including trout, carp, bass and catfish. They eat about 1-2 pounds of fish daily.
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Seals – Fish like salmon, herring, cod and flounder form a major part of seals’ diet. They can detect fish through their whiskers and excellent underwater vision.
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Dolphins – Very intelligent hunters, dolphins corral fish into tight balls for easy feeding. Fish like mackerel, herring and tuna compose most of the dolphin’s diet.
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Orcas – Also called killer whales, orcas work together to create waves that knock seal and penguin prey into the water where other orcas snatch them. They also eat fish, sharks and squids.
Reptiles and Amphibians Eating Fish
Fish are also preyed upon by certain reptiles and amphibians:
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Alligators – These large crocodilians eat fish that swim close to the water’s surface near shore. They hunt mostly at night and catch unsuspecting fish with lunging attacks.
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Turtles – Some aquatic turtles like snapping turtles may ambush small fish for food. They use their jaws and claws to snatch passing fish.
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Hellbender salamanders – The hellbender has a large, flat head and expanding jaws perfect for vacuuming up fish from a river bottom. It also eats crayfish, worms, and tadpoles.
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Giant salamanders – These huge amphibians, growing over 5 feet long, can grab small fish that share their habitat in rocky streams.
Other Fish Eating Fish
Many predatory fish species feed on smaller fish:
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Barracudas – Fast swimmers, barracudas rip through fish schools to attack prey. They use their razor-sharp teeth to immobilize fish.
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Sharks – With their incredible sense of smell, sharks can detect fish from hundreds of feet away. They eat fish of all sizes and even smaller sharks.
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Tunas – Built for speed, tunas chase down fast-moving fish like mackerel, herring and even salmon. Some tunas migrate thousands of miles to feed.
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Trout – Clever hunters, trout position themselves in streams to intercept drifting insects or smaller fish. They eat minnows, shiners, darters and other small fish.
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Bass – Largemouth and smallmouth bass ambush prey in weeds and rocks. They eat mostly crayfish and insects but also feed on smaller fish.
Insects and Crustaceans Eating Fish
Insects and crustaceans common in freshwater habitats also prey on small fish:
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Giant water bugs – These huge insects pierce and immobilize small fish using their sharp beak before sucking out bodily fluids.
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Dragonfly larvae – With their extendable jaws, dragonfly larvae seize and consume small fish fry and eggs in ponds and streams.
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Diving beetles – Both diving beetle adults and larvae attack gills and fins of fish with their vice-like mandibles. They attack in groups to overwhelm small fish.
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Crayfish – With their strong claws and pincers, crayfish kill small fish by tearing them apart. They occasionally eat fish eggs and fry too.
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Crabs – Some freshwater crabs like the Thai crab prey on small fish inhabiting the same ponds and rivers. They use claws and legs to capture fish.
Cephalopods as Fish Predators
Squids, cuttlefish and octopuses that inhabit the open ocean also hunt fish:
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Squids – Swift swimmers like Humboldt squids pursue and eat fish using their sharp beaks and powerful tentacles covered in toothed suckers.
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Octopuses – Using camouflage, octopuses ambush unsuspecting fish that swim by their dens. The Giant Pacific octopus eats mostly shrimp but also feed on fish.
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Cuttlefish – Though they mainly eat crustaceans, some cuttlefish also consume small fish using their tentacles and toxic saliva to immobilize prey.
As we’ve seen, fish form an integral part of food chains and are consumed by a wide variety of aquatic and terrestrial predators. Their abundance, nutritional value and catchability make them a key prey species around the world. Understanding fish predation helps shed light on complex aquatic ecological links. Watching animals catch fish also makes for an exciting wildlife encounter!
What Eats Fish? What Do Fish Eat?
The underwater world is home to an incredibly diverse array of fish species. Fish live in all kinds of water around the world, from small streams and ponds to lakes, rivers, and the ocean.
They play vital roles in aquatic food webs and ecosystems. But what eats fish? And what do fish themselves eat? These are important ecological questions worth exploring.
In this article, we will take a deep dive into the fish predators and prey. We will examine the specific examples of fish-eating animals and the prey targeted by different fish.
Fish are important to many ecosystems and are a main source of food for many predators, both in the water and on land.
Fish live in all kinds of water, from small streams to the open ocean, so they are constantly interacting with different kinds of predators. Here are some of the main predators that eat fish:
Fish is one of the main foods for many bird species, but they also eat other things. Wading birds like herons, egrets, storks, and ibises stalk shallow waters to spear fish with their sharp beaks.
The great blue heron stands patiently in shallow water with its long legs and neck outstretched, waiting for small fish to get close enough to catch. Birds of prey like gulls, terns, cormorants, pelicans, and puffins are specially designed to fish. They can dive from the sky or swim underwater to catch fish.
Several marine mammals rely on fish as their staple food. Seals, sea lions, and walruses use their speed and agility in water to hunt fish shoals.
Their fine whiskers let them feel the flow of water around fish, and they can even use smell to follow fish trails. Animals in the ocean, like orcas and humpback whales, have special ways to catch and eat small schools of fish or big fish that hunt other fish.
Large sea snakes, such as saltwater crocodiles, alligators, and caimans, eat fish that swim close to the shore or near the water’s surface. While lying still, only their eyes and snouts stick out of the water. When they want to catch fish, they strike very quickly.
Turtles, snakes, and other freshwater reptiles may eat fish sometimes, but it’s not their main food source. Small fish are sometimes caught by surprise by snapping turtles, and water snakes like the cottonmouth hunt fish by feeling their movements in the water.
Small fish are eaten by giant salamanders and big frogs like bullfrogs and African sharp-nosed frogs. Fish eggs and larvae may be eaten by newts.
The flat head and wide jaws of the hellbender salamander make it perfect for pulling small fish from the river bottom.
Piscivorous or fish-eating fish form another predatory group that eats other fish species. Examples are largemouth bass, pike, barracuda, tuna, marlin, and swordfish that hunt smaller fish in open waters.
The barracuda uses its razor-sharp teeth and speed to rip and swallow prey fish whole. Bottom-dwelling catfish and stingrays also eat other fish. Stingrays bury themselves in the seafloor and strike when prey swims by.
Giant water bugs ambush and pierce small fish with their piercing mouthparts. They grasp fish with spiny forelegs while injecting them with digestive enzymes before sucking out the liquefied remains.
Predacious diving beetles and their larvae attack small fish. They overwhelm their prey using superior numbers and their vice-like jaws. Dragonfly larvae grab small fish fry that share their habitats in ponds and streams. Their lethal, extendable jaws called labium can rapidly shoot out and ensnare young fish.
Some large crustaceans, like freshwater crayfish, may feed on small fish, although fish are not their main diet. Crayfish use their clawed legs and large pincers to seize and dismember small fish that share their habitat.
Squids, cuttlefish, and octopuses that dwell in oceans and seas may prey on both small and large fish. Their flexible bodies, sharp beaks, and ability to spray ink make them effective open-water hunters.
Fish of all sizes can be grabbed by the Humboldt squid’s strong jaws and tentacles that are lined with suckers and teeth.
The fish’s diet depends greatly on its habitat, feeding behaviour, and morphology. Here’s an overview of the diverse dietary preferences of fish:
Plankton, which includes phytoplankton (plant plankton) and zooplankton (animal plankton), is what many small fish and young larger fish eat every day. Common plankton-feeding fish groups are herrings, anchovies, menhaden, silversides, and mysid shrimp.
Menhaden fish travel in large schools with their mouths open to filter plankton from the water. Baleen whales also filter huge quantities of planktonic organisms for food using their sieve-like baleen plates. The blue whale, for example, can swallow up to 4 tons of krill in a day.
Some fish, like grass carp and tilapia, graze extensively on aquatic plants and algae. Plant-eating fish help in controlling excessive vegetation in lakes and ponds.
The grass carp eats plants that are submerged in freshwater. Every day, it can eat up to five times its own body weight.
Catfish and carp, which live at the bottom of bodies of water, eat detritus, which is broken down organic matter that forms a layer of sediment at the bottom of the water.
These fish sift through sand, mud, and detritus for tiny food bits. The common catfish mostly eats insect larvae, worms, crustaceans, and trash that it finds in the mud at the bottom of warm lakes and rivers.
Insects and insect larvae
Aquatic insect larvae like midges are eaten by small fish like minnows, killflies, and small perch. These fish also eat mayflies, caddisflies, and dragonflies that live in ponds and streams. Mosquitofish help control mosquito populations by feeding on their larvae and pupae.
Larger predatory fish eat adult aquatic insects that fall into the water. Trout positioned in flowing streams gobble up flies, grasshoppers, and beetles drifting on the water’s surface.
A lot of fish, like perch, trout, and catfish, eat crayfish, crabs, shrimp, amphipods, and isopods. These fish live in both freshwater and saltwater. Crustaceans form a key food component for larger predatory fish, too. The smallmouth bass feeds heavily on crayfish but also eats insects, worms, and smaller fish.
A lot of fish eat shelled mollusks that live at the bottom of bodies of water. They do this by crushing the shells and eating the meat inside them.
Examples are catfish, carp, drumfish, and stingrays. The freshwater drum fish crushes mussels and snails with its thick pharyngeal teeth located in its throat.
Fish that live near the bottom eat worms that burrow into the substrate, such as tubifex worms, ragworms, and polychaete marine worms. Worms provide rich protein food for fish. The milkfish relies heavily on marine worms, which it sucks up from mud on the seafloor.
Larger predatory fish like pike and barracuda hunt smaller fish for food. Even tiny fish like minnows may eat newly hatched fry of other fish species. The Giant trevally chases down smaller fish, including sardines and anchovies, and slashes them with its bladelike teeth.
Fish eat Fish | Comparison | 3D animation
What animals eat fish?
The biggest animal to eat fish is the Orca or Killer Whale. This large whale lives in all of Earth’s oceans and eats a wide assortment of prey including seals, sea lions, other whales such as dolphins and porpoises (small whales), sharks, squid, octopus, birds like seagulls and penguins, and fish like salmon, cod, halibut, herring, mackerel tuna.
Is it good to eat fish?
Fish is one of the healthiest foods on earth. It is loaded with important nutrients such as protein and vitamin D. Fish is also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are very essential for body and brain growth and development. Some fish are high in mercury, which is related to brain developmental problems. Eating fish lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Omega-3 fatty acids in fish may combat depression. Fish and fish products are the best sources of vitamin D. Eating fish has been linked to reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes and several other autoimmune diseases. Eating fish protects vision in old age, preventing age-related macular degeneration(AMD).
What bird eats fish?
A large fish-eating bird is the Osprey. It lives in many parts of the world but is most common in North America and Europe. The osprey’s wingspan is over five feet wide. This bird eats mostly small fish, which it catches by diving into water from high above the surface of the water.
What predators eat fish?
This list includes specialist piscivores, such as Laganosuchus, as well as generalist predators, such as Baryonyx and Spinosaurus, found to have or assumed to have eaten fish. ^ Sahney, S.; Benton, M. J.; Falcon-Lang, H. J. (2010).