Archerfish
From Freepedia
| Archerfish | ||||||||||
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| Image:Archerfish.png Banded archerfish | ||||||||||
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Toxotes blythii | ||||||||||
| Image:Toxotes jaculatrix 1280.jpg Toxotes jaculatrix |
The archerfishes (also seen as archer fish) are a family (Toxotidae) of fish notable for their habit of preying on insects and other animals by shooting them down with squirts of water from the mouth. The family is a small one, consisting of six species in the genus Toxotes; all occur in fresh and marine waters from India to Philippines, Australia, and Polynesia.
Archerfish bodies are deep and compressed, with the dorsal fin set far back, and the profile a straight line from dorsal fin to mouth. The mouth is protractile, and the lower jaw juts out. Sizes are generally small, but T. chatareus can reach 40 cm.
Archerfish are remarkably accurate in their shooting, adult fish almost always hitting the target on the first shot. This is partially due to their good eyesight, but also because of their ability to compensate for the refraction which occurs when light travels through water. They do this by swimming directly under the prey, where the distortion is least.
When their prey is spotted, the archerfish sticks its snout just above the surface and squirts a jet of water at its victim. It is able to do this because of the narrow groove it has at the top of its mouths. It presses its tongue against this groove to form a narrow channel, then contracts its gill covers to force a powerful jet of water through the channel.
The resulting jet of water can be up to 2-3 m long, but their accuracy only allows them to shoot insects 1-1.5 m away. If the first shot does not knock the victim into the water, the archerfish will keep trying. Young archerfish start shooting when about 2.5 cm long, but are inaccurate at first and must learn from experience.
Note, however, that archerfish prefer to leap out of the water and grab the insect in their mouth if it happens to be within reach.
Archerfish are popular for aquaria.
Species:
- Toxotes blythii
- Largescale archerfish Toxotes chatareus (40 cm)
- Banded archerfish Toxotes jaculatrix (30 cm)
- Primitive archerfish Toxotes lorentzi (15 cm)
- Smallscale archerfish Toxotes microlepis (15 cm)
- Western archerfish Toxotes oligolepis (15 cm)
Both T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix may be called just "archerfish" in some areas.
Several submarines of the United States Navy have been named USS Archerfish.
External links
- FishBase info for Toxotidae
- Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore: Archerfish
- Information and Photos on Archerfish
