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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about archerfish. Be sure to target that subscribe button before leaving Imagine being a bug just chillin’ on a branch overhanging the water when all of a sudden a stream of water pegs you in the side and sends you spiraling to the murky water below - actually, don’t imagine that, that’s freaking terrifying, but it is the story of many prey items for today’s subject: the archerfish. There are less than a dozen archerfish species and they’re all found in South-eastern Asia as well as northern Australia and the surrounding islands. Archerfish are angular, thin, and usually sport bands or stripes down their sides. These markings are to help the fish remain camouflaged to avoid the eyes of predators such as birds and other larger fish, but also to help them sneak up on unsuspecting prey from below.

As the name implies, archerfish really do shoot watery arrows at arthropods outside of the water. With the archerfish inside the water, and the prey item outside, the archerfish has the obstacle of overcoming the difference between what they’re seeing versus where their prey is actually positioned due to light refraction in the water. This is why young archerfish are usually less than perfect marksmen; but, over time, they learn the best place from which to shoot is right under their target. Generally speaking, archerfish spend most of their time at the top of the water column because much of their prey is hovering over the water, however, archerfish will also eat crustaceans like crabs, worms, detritus, and even the occasional plant material.

The kind of environments archerfish inhabit can include fresh and brackish water swamps, rivers, lakes, streams, and more. They seem to have a preference for murky water, probably to help hide them while hunting. The average size of an archerfish is less than ten inches (25 centimeters), though this can vary widely depending on the species. Considering they can shoot their water arrows more than four feet (122 centimeters), that would be like a six foot human being able to spray water twenty four feet! In the wild, archerfish probably don’t live past a few years of age, though in captivity they’ve been reported reaching a decade.

Archerfish start life as an egg. The females may lay thousands of eggs during the breeding season which are fertilized via broadcast spawning and float on the top of the water. Even their eggs like to hang out towards the surface! The eggs will hatch within twenty four hours, and the baby archerfish are on their own. They have to learn to use their shooting skills quickly, or else they’ll go hungry. They shoot by pushing water through a grove in the top of their mouths which creates a tunnel when pressed against their tongues. They’ll actually position their mouths just above the water, take aim, and fire. Because archerfish tend to live in schools, it’s a free for all over who gets the meal; sometimes an archerfish will even jump straight out of the water in order to catch its prey in mid air.

For more facts on archerfish, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.