Hippocampus abdominalis
New Zealand, South and East Australia

Feeding Habits

It is at the bottom of the ocean, where seahorses hold onto various plants, that seahorses feed.  Although this depth is still considered the photic level (sunlight can still penetrate down here), where day and night makes a huge difference for many organisms, seahorses are diurnal- that is, day and night do not make too much a difference for them.  The main food for the seahorse is shrimp and other Crustaceans.   Each day a seahorse can consume up to 3,000 brine shrimp; seahorses have no teeth and swallow their food whole.
The specific feeding habits is known as suction feeding, a common strategy used in many higher fish with no teech such as lampreys.  A complex network of interconncted bones, pulled by several muscles, create a large force of suction directed at the prey and surrounding water.  This way, the tiny seahorse is able to capture a large amount of food.