HISTORY
The archerfish is actually part of a family of fish that are known for preying on land based insects. There are seven different species of the genus Toxetes, which is the technically name for the Archerfish family. Archerfish can reside in salt water, fresh water and brakish water. Archerfish are native to the waters of Polynesia, Australia, the Philippines and India.
APPEARANCE
The archerfish has a relatively streamlined shape, having a dorsal fin that is set significantly far back from the front of the fish. The profile of the archerfish is entirely straight from mouth to dorsal fin, giving this fish a very consistent appearance. The front of the fish slopes upwards in a gradual line, tapering off at the middle portion of the rounded dorsal fin. The bottom of the fish is nearly a mirror shape of the top, though the slope along the anal fin is slightly more pronounced. Most archer fish have a black striped pattern on their top half, which fades away approximately halfway down the length of their body. The remainder of their body is silver-gray, with the fins sometimes displaying small black color patterns similar to that of the body.
The mouth of the archer fish is by far its most remarkable feature from a scientific standpoint, being protractile in appearance. The lower jaw extends slightly farther than the upper jaw in most archerfish. Inside the mouth, there is a narrow groove that extends the length of the roof of the archerfish’s mouth. This groove is the main reason why archerfish are able to ‘shoot’ jets of water at their land-based prey. The tongue of an archerfish is pressed against this groove, and water is cycled though at an accelerated rate. Archerfish are able to grow up to 12 inches in size, though usually do not reach this length in aquariums.
BEHAVIOR
Most archerfish need to be in schools of eight fish or more. This is the main reason why it’s not recommended that you keep an archerfish in a tank of less than 55 gallons. Though it is possible to keep lone archerfish, due to their size they may not interact well with other smaller species of fish. The unique features of the archerfish involve its ability to shoot a jet of water at land-based prey, which means that it tends to reside close to a tank’s surface. Because of this, it may be possible to keep some bottom-dwelling fish in the tank as well.
FEEDING
In the wild, archerfish have a diet primarily consisting of live or fresh insects. Because of this, it is essential that this type of diet is also mimicked in an aquarium environment. You can feed an archerfish dehydrated insects, which can usually be purchased in the fish care section of most pet care supply stores. It’s very important not to feed an archerfish any food that will quickly sink to the bottom of the tank, since most archerfish will ignore food once it leaves their line of sight. Live insects, worms and other organisms can be carefully placed on the surface of the water, in order to attract the archerfish’s attention.