Abstract: Microbial contamination is considered an important contributor to both food spoilage and food safety issues, and the development of new natural antimicrobial agents with broad-spectrum and highly efficient bacterial inhibition has become a hot research topic in modern food safety. The antibacterial mechanisms of marine animal antimicrobial peptides are primarily mediated through the disruption of cell membranes, impairment of cell walls, and interference with intracellular substances. These peptides are recognized for their broad antibacterial spectrum, low resistance development, and low residue characteristics, and are considered potential novel antimicrobial agents to combat food spoilage. Therefore, marine animal antimicrobial peptides are proposed as promising antimicrobial agents for food preservation applications. In this paper, antimicrobial peptides derived from marine animals including fish, crustaceans (shrimp and crab), and mollusks are systematically reviewed, with their antimicrobial mechanisms and the challenges encountered in their research and application comprehensively analyzed. Additionally, feasible solutions are systematically proposed to offer theoretical and practical guidance for the sustainable development and application of marine animal antimicrobial peptides in food preservation and aquaculture.