What Do Small Fish Eat?
Last Updated Mar 28, 2020 1:37:43 PM ET

Small freshwater fish typically eat vegetation, insects, larvae, leeches, shrimp and dead or decaying matter, and small saltwater fish, called forage or feed fish, eat plankton. The tiny American herring eats small and larval shrimp as do both Atlantic and Pacific cod.
Feed fish and shrimp are important parts of the aquatic food chain and are a major source of food for predatory fish, sea birds and marine mammals. Shrimp live in oceans, rivers, marshes and streams and are consumed by some of the smallest and the largest of fish as both basking and whale sharks are known to filter them.
More From Reference

What Are the Steps of Presidential Impeachment?

What Does George Soros' Open Society Foundations Network Fund?

The History of the United States' Golden Presidential Dollars

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed Schools and Education in Lasting Ways

Fact Check: Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe?

How Does the 25th Amendment Work — and When Should It Be Enacted?