Banded Archerfish

Introduction

The Banded Archerfish is a brackish water perciform. It is silvery in color and has a dorsal fin towards the rear and have four spines. The head and back are flattened and averages 9- 10 inches in length. It has distinctive wide band stripes along its side. They have large forward-set eyes close to the mouth for hunting. Though this animal is not native to the United States I found its unique abilities to be very interesting, it has the ability to shoot down its prey out of the water as well as jump out of the water.

Evolutionary History

The Archerfish is able to spit water by building up pressure in the mouth by producing force on the bones of the mouth while at the same time closing off any passage for water to any place besides the front of the mouth. This ability gives the Archerfish a unique ability to find more food outside of the water from 2-3 meters away.

Since they live in brackish water, they also have a wide range of areas to find a good food source. If they find little food in a saltwater area, they can easily move to an area that has more freshwater. The toxotes jaculatrix is not too fond of fresh water as other toxotes but it is not unheard of.

The banded stripes on the Archerfish gives it good camouflage as it searches the surface of low-hanging vegetation for prey. The camouflage also works well when hiding from predators trying to eat the Archerfish by blending into low limbs handing in the water or murky undergrowth.

Conservation

The archerfish is very common, but due to the destruction of mangroves for aquaculture their habitats become compromised. The mangroves, and coral reefs for spawning, are essential for the archerfish survival. Humans can keep these fish, and many others. By reducing how many natural areas are being destroyed. According to the international Union for Conservation of Nature, more than 33% of the world’s mangroves are already gone. Though, it is believed the mangroves are not in immediate danger and neither is the archerfish as this time.

Teacher Resources

The Company of Biologists- Hunting in Archerfish- https://jeb.biologists.org/content/jexbio/221/24/jeb159723.full.pdf

This research paper show all a lot about the archerfish from how it selects its prey to how is the archerfish able to aim at its target.

Common Sense education - Proectile Motion_ https://www.commonsense.org/education/lesson-plans/projectile-motion#1

This site contains a lesson plan on using Angry Birds as an example for projectile motion which can easily be reconfigured to go with the archerfish.

California in Air and Water - Light in Air and Water - https://www.calacademy.org/educators/lesson-plans/light-in-air-and-water

This site shows a lesson plan on how an archerfish is able to aim at its target and why the refraction of light makes it so difficult.

Atlas of Living Australia - Banded Archerfish - https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:6a606beb-337f-40db-9ab1-7acbdc6afbac#overview

This shows many pictures and detailed information about the banded archerfish.

Wired - The Fluid Dynamics of Spitting: How Archerfish use Physics to Hunt with their spit - https://www.wired.com/2013/11/archerfish-physics/

This website shows how physics can be used to explain the dynamics of how the water is expelled from the archerfish and how accurate it can be.

The Dallas World Aquarium - Banded Archerfish- https://dwazoo.com/animal/banded-archerfish/

This is a quick and simple guide for some basic but useful information on the archerfish.