Category Predators

A muskellunge can be recognized by the elongated body and the absence of scales on the lower part of the cheeks and gill covers. It usually waits around for the prey and at an opportune moment, it swiftly bites the prey and then swallows it head first. Clearly, it is an ambush predator.

The muskellunge is a solitary fresh-water fish usually found in the North American Great Lakes region. Largest of the pikes, the muskellunge averages about 9 kg in weight, but may be 1.8 m long and weigh up to 36 kg or more. It eats all varieties of fish present in its ecosystem including other muskellunge. It is capable of taking prey up to two-thirds of its body length, thanks to its large stomach.

The muskellunge populations are highly vulnerable. Their low reproductive rate and slow growth make them all the more susceptible to overfishing. Therefore, some artificial propagation projects are under way to maintain the numbers.

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Pufferfish have highly elastic stomachs and can quickly ingest huge amounts of water to turn themselves into a virtually inedible ball, several times their normal size.

Many scientists are of the opinion that these fish developed inflatability as a result of their slow, somewhat clumsy swimming style that makes them vulnerable to predators. They have tough, usually prickly skins and fused teeth that form a beaklike structure with a split in the centre of each jaw. Some species also have spines on their skin to make them even less palatable. Though they are considered small, some of them grow to a size of 90 centimeters.

Puffers are found in warm and temperate regions around the world, primarily in the sea but also, in some instances, in brackish or fresh water. Their diet includes snails, worms, and other crustaceans. Pufferfish are also known as blowfish.

The blue marlin is one of the fastest and strongest predators of the open ocean. It is also one of the most sought-after game fish in the world. Distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the blue marlin spends most of its life far out at sea. It is one of the largest bony fish; it grows up to a size of 5 meters and weighs around 820 kilograms. It has a long bill that grows out of its head which is used to stun the prey by slashing on its head. This action knocks the prey unconscious.

Blue marlins prey on a wide variety of marine organisms, mostly near the surface including mackerel and tuna. Many parasites live on them. Once a blue marlin grows and matures, only very few predators like the great white shark, prey on them.

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Found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide, barracudas are muscular fish with streamlined, torpedo-shaped bodies. Undoubtedly, they have a fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. They are opportunistic predators that launch surprise attacks.

Barracudas are attracted to shiny objects, like the silvery fish they prey on. Humans that enter the water with glittering objects, such as watches and jewellery, may cause curious barracudas to investigate and mistake these objects for a food source.

Divers with shiny objects are reported to have been attacked by barracudas. As a precaution, divers are usually advised to remove shiny objects before entering the waters.

Barracudas feed on fish such as jacks, grunts, groupers, snappers, small tunas, mullets, killifishes, herrings, and anchovies by simply biting them in half. They kill and consume larger prey by tearing chunks of flesh.

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For centuries, travellers to South America have brought back some gruesome stories about fish with teeth that can strip the flesh of any animal foolish enough to try to cross the rivers that are their home. These stories were about piranhas, freshwater fish with razor-sharp teeth. In fact, the term piranha in a Brazilian language means ‘tooth fish’.

Most of the piranhas are sized between 12 and 35 centimeters. The red-bellied piranha is the largest among the lot and it grows to a size of half a meter!

Piranhas hunt in groups of more than a hundred members. Several groups can converge in a feeding frenzy if a large animal is attacked, although this is rare. Piranhas have excellent hearing capability. When a piranha locates the prey, signals are sent to the group acoustically. Everyone in the group rushes in to take a bite and then swims away to make way for the others.

The angler fish lives in one of the most uninhabitable habitats in the world- the lightless bottom of the sea. Living at depths of at least 2000m this species lives its life in the complete absence of sunlight. Some of them live in the sea floor while others live close to the sea floor.

The angler fish won’t impress you with good looks. For many species of angler fish, the males are much smaller than females. The females have a piece of dorsal spine that protrudes above their mouths like a fishing pole. In fact, they get their name because of this feature.

The tips of the spine have luminous flesh that attracts prey. Using a muscular skin flap, a deep-sea anglerfish can either hide or reveal its lighted lure. By pulsing the light and moving the lure back and forth, they successfully attract crustaceans, fishes, and other prey. Their bodies are flexible and mouths so big that they can swallow prey that is thrice their size.

Many of you might have spotted lion fish in aquariums. A fish with a unique appearance, it is an invasive predator. Its fins are venomous and are capable of producing painful, puncture wounds. A sting from a lionfish is extremely painful to humans and can cause nausea and breathing difficulties.

This fish is endemic to the South Pacific and Indian oceans. Lion fish corner their prey against reefs and rocks, then strike suddenly to swallow the prey as a whole. They have the unique ability to expand their stomachs to accommodate prey of larger sizes.

The best known lion fish species is perhaps the red lion fish with red-and-white zebra stripes. Their venom is dangerous and it has lightning-fast reflexes to capture prey, mainly fish and shrimp.

Lion fish threaten reef systems by preying on fish that clean the reef and keep it healthy.

The lion’s mane jellyfish is the world’s largest jellyfish. It is usually found in colder oceans like the Arctic, northern Atlantic, and northern Pacific Oceans. The lion’s mane jellyfish gets its name from its tentacles which resemble the mane of a lion. These tentacles grow up to a size of three metres and are packed with stinging cells. They are used to catch their favourite fish, smaller jellyfish and zooplankton.

It is interesting to watch a lion’s mane jellyfish catch its prey. At first, it delivers a sting loaded with neurotoxins and when the prey is immobilized, it is moved to its mouth using specialized tentacles called oral arms.

Scientific research has suggested that jellyfish actually thrive in areas that are affected by human activity. Overfishing, climate change and pollution have helped promote more jellyfish swarms by reducing their main predators and competitors and increasing their prey.

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The octopus is a unique animal. It is intelligent, and has a sharp vision and a devastating array of offensive organs for attacking the prey. It is a fast swimmer, too. These qualities make the octopus a supreme predator.

Octopuses vary a great deal in size; the smallest is about 5 cm long, while the largest species may grow to 5.4 metres in length and have an arm span of almost 9 metres! They inhabit various regions of the ocean, including coral reefs, open sea waters, and the seabed.

The body of an octopus is designed for hunting. Its skin cells have the ability to change colour with the help of which it camouflages near rocks and the coral reefs. Its tentacles have muscular discs that help it catch prey. The octopus usually ambushes its prey; when a suitable prey comes, it shoots out one of its eight long tentacles and traps it. It usually feeds on crabs, shrimps and lobsters though it can attack larger prey like sharks as well.

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The crown-of-thorns starfish is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony coral polyps. It is the world’s second largest starfish and grows up to the size of one meter. It has venomous thorn-like spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the biblical crown of thorns, and that is how it got its name.

The crown-of-thorns starfish is a well-known coral predator. It eats coral prey by extruding the stomach out from its body, covering the corals. An individual starfish can consume up to 6 square metres of living coral reef per year. Its spines are somewhat flexible; they are used for locomotion and for defence from potential predators.

The crown-of-thorns starfish are an important part of the ecosystem in normal numbers on healthy coral reefs. If more than 30 crown-of-thorns starfish are found in a hectare, it is called an outbreak. Outbreaks have been known to cause serious harm to coral reefs in some areas.