Archerfish

For ships with the name Archerfish, Archer-Fish, see USS Archerfish.

Archerfish
Toxotes jaculatrix
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Carangiformes
Family: Toxotidae
Cuvier, 1816
Genus: Toxotes
Cuvier, 1816
Type species
Labrus jaculator
Shaw, 1803

The archerfish (also known as spinner fish or archer fish) or Toxotidae are a monotypic family (although some include a second genus) of perciform tropical fish known for their unique predation technique of "shooting down" land-based insects and other small prey with jets of water spit from their specialized mouths. The family is small, consisting of ten species in a single genus, Toxotes. Most archerfish live in freshwater streams, ponds and wetlands, but two or three species are euryhaline, inhabiting both fresh and brackish water habitats such as estuaries and mangroves.[1][2] They can be found from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, through Southeast Asia, to Melanesia and Northern Australia.[3]

Archerfish have deep and laterally compressed bodies, with the dorsal fin and the profile a straight line from dorsal fin to mouth. The mouth is protractile, and the lower jaw juts out. Sizes are fairly small, typically up to about 12–18 cm (5–7 in), but T. chatareus can reach 40 cm (16 in).[3][4]

Archerfish are popular exotic fish for aquaria,[5] but are difficult to feed and maintain by average fishkeepers since they prefer live prey over typical fish foods.

  1. ^ Maurice Kottelat; Tan Heok Hui (2018). "Three new species of archerfishes from the freshwaters of Southeast Asia (Teleostei: Toxotidae) and notes on Henri Mouhot's fish collections". Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters. IEF-952: 1–19. doi:10.23788/IEF-952.
  2. ^ Arthington, A., and McKenzie, F. "Review of Impacts of Displaced/Introduced Fauna Associated with Inland Waters. Archived December 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine" Environment Australia Archived April 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Australia: State of the Environment Technical Paper Series (Inland Waters), Series 1, 1997. Accessed 2009-05-24.
  3. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Toxotes". FishBase. December 2017 version.
  4. ^ Johnson, G.D.; Gill, A.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 189. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  5. ^ "Archer Fish (Toxotes jaculatrix)". liveaquaria. 2016-03-09. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05.