Interestingly, seahorses have small bodies and no stomach. A living being should not have a stomach.It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Moreover, the same situation applies to platypuses or lungfish.

In our content today we will explain this situation using the example of seahorses. Why don’t seahorses have a stomach and how do they feed without one?

Let’s start with the basics. Why don’t seahorses have stomachs?

As you know, seahorses have small and thin bodies. Because they are stomachless, they can stay light and agile. So they are more comfortable while swimming and hunting. Also the food they hunt (plankton, small crustaceans etc.) It can be digested in the intestines without the need for a stomach.

This way they can digest food quickly and use energy immediately. Since the stomach uses energy to produce enzymes and acids to digest food, it can consume too much of the seahorse’s energy. So at this time they don’t have a stomach chances of survival increase We can also say.

So how do they feed without a stomach?

They ingest food by sucking on it with their long tubular mouth. Their prey passes directly from their mouth to their intestines, and their digestive system quickly breaks it down and absorbs it. Digestive enzymes are secreted into the intestines.

In addition, seahorses cannot store food because they have no stomach. It must constantly hunt and eat. That is why they consume food both frequently and in small quantities. In short, digesting food quickly and converting it into energy contributes to their survival.

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