In retrospect, today’s featured animal would have been the perfect Wild Fact during the Summer Olympics but I guess it is better late than never. While the Archerfish may not be an Olympian, they are an impressive little fish native to the waters of southeastern Asia and northern Australia. Believe it or not, the peculiar animal is known best for feeding on land insects and small animals. I am not kidding but we will discuss how they are able to do this shortly. Before that we should probably book our ticket for Australia (or southeastern Asia) and begin our search for the deadly animal known as the Archerfish.

Small but Deadly

You may have spotted an Archerfish inside your dentist’s aquarium (yes, much like the one in Finding Nem0) as these small fish are quite popular in the pet trade industry and they apparently make excellent pets. These fish typically reach a length between 5 and 10 centimetres (1.9 and 3.9 inches), however, one species has been known to get achieve a length of 40 centimetres (16 inches), which is quite impressive when you compare it to the rest of their family members. As I alluded to earlier, just because these fish are small does not mean they should be taken lightly…especially if you are an insect or small animal.

Like Shooting Insects in a Barrel

The Archerfish is known for subduing their terrestrial prey by shooting them. Yes, you read that right, although I guess spitting at them would be more accurate. When an Archerfish sees a grasshopper, beetle, butterfly or any other tasty meal sitting on a branch overhanging the water, they will emerge just their lips and very accurately shoot a stream of water at the unsuspecting prey. This will undoubtedly knock the insect off the branch and into their watery grave below. The accuracy these fish have with their shot is unprecedented and is a result of their highly specialized eyes, so if you did put them into a shooting event at the Olympics, they would probably take home the gold.

Back to School

The Archerfish isn’t born with extreme shooting accuracy. Believe it or not, the juveniles are inaccurate and need to learn from experience before they can obtain their Olympic level accuracy. How do they learn? They go to school. No, this isn’t just a bad joke, the Archerfish will actually form a small school with other juveniles and practice their shooting. By forming a group, it helps ensure that at least one of the small fish will accurately hit their target and be able to feed. This makes me wonder what the Archerfish does during recess?