Archerfish are remarkable hunters known for their habit of preying on insects and other small animals by shooting them down with water droplets from their specialized mouths. The family is a small one, consisting of seven species in the genus Toxotes; all occur in fresh, brackish, and marine waters from India to the Philippines, Australia, Louisiana and Polynesia.

Scientists had always thought their hunting technique was an unsophisticated skill, based on blasts of water with a “spit and hope” quality. However, recent studies have shown that these fish are able to precisely judge the size and position of prey above the water line, taking into account the distorting effect on light of passing from air to water. Furthermore, the fish also fine-tune the size of each blast. Watch an impressive video of an archerfish catching a fly (3MB).

To be honest, I always thought that archerfish were the only fish capable of water spitting. However, on my never-ending hunt for interesting fish behaviour I came across some old (1968) footage of Dr. Jörg Vierke. It shows that also common Colisa lalia and Colisa labiosa are able to apply this hunting technique. Have a look at the video!