Editing Archerfish (section)

==Capture of prey==
[[File:Archerfish (PSF).png|thumb|Illustration of an archerfish shooting water at a bug on a hanging branch]]
[[File:Archer fish shooting at prey.ogv|thumb|Video of an archerfish shooting at prey]]
Archerfish are remarkably [[Accuracy and precision|accurate]] in their [[projectile use by living systems|shooting]]; an [[adult]] fish almost always hits the target on the first shot. Although it is [[Apomorphy and synapomorphy|presumed that all archerfish species]] do this, it has only been confirmed from ''T. blythii'', ''T. chatareus'' and ''T. jaculatrix''.<ref name=Kottelat2018/> They can bring down insects and other prey<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/10072/4430/1/29443.pdf |title=River and wetland food webs in Australia's wet-dry tropics: general principles and implications for management|author1=Douglas, M.M. |author2=Bunn, S.E. |author3=Davies, P.M.  |name-list-style=amp|date=2005-06-03|publisher=Marine and Freshwater Research Vol. 56, No. 3, 329–342|access-date=2009-05-24}}</ref> up to {{convert|3|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} above the water's surface.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1401098/Plastic-flies-help-spitting-archer-fish-regain-aim.html |title="Plastic flies help spitting archer fish regain aim" Telegraph.co.uk|date=2002-07-11|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=2009-05-24}}</ref> This is partially due to their good eyesight, but also to their ability to compensate for the [[refraction]] of light as it passes through the air-water interface when aiming at their prey.<ref name="Schuster animal cognition">{{cite journal|url=http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/neurobio/department/reprints/Schuster%20et%20al.%202006.pdf |title=Animal Cognition:, How Archer Fish Learn to Down Rapidly Moving Targets |author1=Schuster, S. |author2=Wöhl, S. |author3=Griebsch, M. |author4=Klostermeier, I. |journal=Current Biology |name-list-style=amp|date=2006-02-21 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=378–383 |publisher=Current Biology Vol. 16, No. 4, 378–383 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2005.12.037 |pmid=16488871 |bibcode=2006CBio...16..378S |s2cid=1139246 |access-date=2014-05-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614133100/http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/neurobio/department/reprints/Schuster%20et%20al.%202006.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-14 }}</ref> They typically spit at prey at a mean angle of about 74° from the horizontal but can still aim accurately when spitting at angles between 45° and 110°.<ref>Temple, S. E. "Effect of salinity on the refracive index of water: considerations for archer fish aerial vision" 'Journal of Fish Biology 1269.,74”’(1629 2007.</ref>

When an archerfish selects its prey, it rotates its eye so that the image of the prey falls on a particular portion of the eye in the [[Anatomical terms of location|ventral temporal]] periphery of the [[retina]],<ref>Temple, S.E., Hart, N. S., and Colin, S. P. "A spitting image: visual specializations of the arsherfish (Toxotes chatareus)" 'Brain Behaviour and Evolution' Vol. 73, 309 2009.</ref> and its lips just break the surface, squirting a [[Jet (fluid)|jet]] of water at its victim. The archerfish does this by forming a small groove in the [[palate|roof of its mouth]] and its [[tongue]] into a narrow channel. It then fires by contracting its [[gill cover]]s and forcing water through the channel, shooting a stream that, shaped by its mouth parts, travels faster at the rear than at the front. This speed differential causes the stream to become a blob directly before impact as the slower leading water is overtaken by the faster trailing water, and it is varied by the fish to account for differences in range. It also makes this one of the few animals that both make and use [[Tool use by animals|tools]], as they both utilise the water and shape it to make it more useful to them.<ref name="SN Oct 4 2014">{{cite journal | last1 = Milius | first1 = Susan | last2 = October | year = 2014 | title = Archerfish mouth reveals spit secret | journal = Science News | volume = 186 | issue = 7| page = 8 | doi=10.1002/scin.2014.186007005}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/11/spit-decision-how-archerfish-decide/|title=Spit Decision: How Archerfish Decide|date=19 November 2013|magazine=WIRED}}</ref> They are persistent and will make multiple shots if the first one fails.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/156854200x00162|title = Prey Catching in the Archer Fish: Marksmanship, and Endurance of Squirting At an Aerial Target|last = Timmermans|first = P.J.A|date = 2000|journal = Netherlands Journal of Zoology| volume=50 | issue=4 | pages=411–423 |access-date = 2014-10-06|doi = 10.1163/156854200X00162|url-access = subscription}}</ref>

Young archerfish start shooting when they are about {{convert|2.5|cm|in|abbr=on|0}} long but are inaccurate at first and must learn from experience.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} During this [[animal learning |learning period]], they hunt in small [[Shoaling and schooling|schools]]. This way, the [[probability]] is enhanced that at least one jet will hit its target.{{Citation needed|reason=This is rather speculative and is not shown in any primary literature as far as I am aware.|date=October 2020}} A 2006 [[experimental study]] found that archerfish appear to benefit from [[observational learning]] by watching a performing group member shoot, without having to practice: {{blockquote|This instance of social learning in a fish is most remarkable as it could imply that observers can ‘‘change their viewpoint,’’ mapping the perceived shooting characteristics of a distant team member into angles and target distances that they later must use to hit.<ref name="Schuster animal cognition" />}}However, little of their [[Social behavior|social behaviour]] is currently known beyond that archerfish are sensitive to, and make changes to their shooting behaviour, when [[conspecific]]s are visible to them.<ref>Jones, N. A. R., Webster, M. M., Templeton, C. N., Schuster, S., & Rendell, L. (2018). Presence of an audience and consistent interindividual differences affect archerfish shooting behaviour. Animal Behaviour, 141, 95–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.04.024
</ref> This is probably as a result of the potential threat of [[kleptoparasitism]] that other archerfish represent to a shooting fish.<ref>Davis, B. D., & Dill, L. M. (2012). Intraspecific kleptoparasitism and counter-tactics in the archerfish (Toxotes chatareus). Behaviour, 149(13–14), 1367–1394. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003026
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An archerfish will often leap out of the water and grab an insect in its mouth if it happens to be within reach. Individuals typically prefer to remain close to the surface of the water.<ref name="SN Oct 4 2014" />

New research has found that archerfish also use jets to hunt underwater prey, such as [[Benthos|those embedded]] in [[silt]]. It is not known whether they learned aerial or underwater shooting first, but the two techniques may have evolved [[Wiktionary:in parallel|in parallel]], as improvements in one can be adapted to the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2118582-spitting-archerfish-shoot-at-prey-above-and-beneath-the-water/|title=New Scientist: Spitting archerfish shoot at prey above and beneath the water}}</ref> This makes it an example of [[exaptation]].