Hungry hunters of the sea. Many of those exist. Sharks, dolphins, orcas, seals…many hunters. They cut through the water and swim with grace to catch their prey. They’re adapted to speed, efficiency and are just amazing hunters in general.
But one day, this fish said he was lazy. No longer did he want to wait for insects fall onto the water. And by then, they’d be dead, weak or diseased. He wanted fresh food. A luxury only afforded by the strongest of hunters in the river. Fortunately for our fish here, he was a lot more…unique.
The archer fish is what is seen in our cover art. This little guy is a small fish that grows to about 18 cm (or 7 inches) in size. They look completely average at the first glance. But their uniqueness lies in their hunting ability…
Archer fish primarily feed on small bugs and insects. Flies or spiders. Crickets even. All fair game to this guy. Rivers and lakes are common ground for any and all insects. So it’s no doubt theres an abundance of them. The problem is, they’re a few feet above the surface of the water. And archer fish, sadly, don’t have the wings of a bird or the legs of a human. So there’s no way to get those fresh bugs…Right?
Well the Archer fish did lots of sitting around. He thought of many ideas for how to get these insects. And after long nights of sitting at his desk, rereading his notes, 6 monster energies a night, he graduated college with a degree in projectile physics! And with this new found knowledge, he aimed carefully at an insect…sucked in a lot of water and!
Pew! He shot a beam of water at an insect that was on a leaf. The insect, startled, fell into the water as it slipped. And once it did, it was too late. It went from being in a tree, to being in a fish’s stomach.
This impressive feat was thanks to evolution and adaptability. What an interesting fish! But such a skill requires precise calculations, aiming and focus. For a fish, it’s quite impressive. Us humans understand the basics of projectile motion, but the next time you’re at the pool, try aiming water with your mouth at the tip of a leaf 2 feet above your head. If you can hit that on your second try, you’re barely on par with the archer fish.
It’s actually more impressive than you think. Fish don’t have the eyes or the capability to understand physics as well as we do. Yet somehow, in some way, they use the refraction in the water to aim. These fish somehow have a better understanding of projectile physics than the average human does, and they’re really good at it too.
An interesting fact is that this isn’t just a feature of adaptation and evolution but rather a learned skill. These fish don’t just have the ability born with them when they come into this world as babies. They need extensive practice and careful aiming to actually succeed. So it’s not only a skill that comes from evolution, but rather a skill that’s also practiced and learned!
If you’ve ever been in sports or quite literally anything, you probably know the phrase “practice makes perfect”. But I’m sure you know that certain things aren’t for everybody and practice doesn’t make everyone a master. It turns out this goes the same for archerfish. Archer fish tend to school in groups as they have evolved from schooling fish like salmon. And some mates are…a lot better at being an archerfish than others. Even with long practice, it turns out that archerfish can sometimes still fail to master the technique of water sniping. So sometimes, archerfish who aren’t really good at their job will steal from other mates for sustenance. In fact, most of an archer fish’s stolen food comes from another archer fish who isn’t too great at doing their job.
So, to recap, an archer fish is a type of freshwater fish that uses water to spit at their insect prey. They are a kind of schooling fish that has evolved from salmon and they’re really good at their job. However, some may lack in their preciseness to choose. And things may get dirty from there.
How cool is that?
