New study shines light on how seahorses catch prey

• Author: JERUSALEM POST STAFF
• Published date: 30 September 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The study was led by Prof. Roi Holzman and doctoral student Corrine Jacobs of the School of Zoology at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at TAU, and was conducted at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat. The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Experimental Biology.

"I wanted to understand how these unique fish with tiny mouths at the tip of skinny snouts could feed on some of the fastest prey in the oceans", says Jacobs.

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Seahorses spend their days anchored with their tail to seaweeds or corals with their head tilted close to their body. When they detect prey, they lift their head at amazing speeds to catch it.

Their body becomes a kind of spring. Prof. Holzman explained that using their back muscles, they stretch an elastic tendon, and use their neck bones as a "trigger" like a crossbow.

The result is faster than the fastest muscle contractions.

Until now, it was not understood how the spring-loaded mechanism enabled seahorses to eat, but this study succeeds in characterizing and quantifying...