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Archer Fish ~ Banded Archerfish

Family: Toxotidae Archer Fish (gold color morph)Toxotes jaculatrixPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy Ken Childs

   The Archer Fish or Banded Archerfish is a fish renowned for its ability to "shoot" down its prey with a forceful stream of water, ...definitely one of Mother Nature's wonders!

   Archer Fish of Banded Archerfish are a very common coastal species in many parts of tropical Asia. They live mainly in salty mangrove swamps where they spend their time cruising the shallows looking for food. They will also move into rivers and streams and the more solitary adults may swim out to coral reefs, possibly to breed..

   The Archer Fish has developed the ability to shoot their food by forcing a stream of water through a groove in the roof of their mouths. This jet of water is strong enough to knock insects out of low lying branches into the water where they are quickly gobbled up.

   Even without their unusual ability to shoot prey, they would still be a popular aquarium fish due to their interesting body shape and banded pattern. The Archer Fish pictured above is yellow color morph and is extremely rare. They are typically a silvery or white color with four to six black vertical bands. Juveniles will have a some irregular yellow patches, mostly on top between the bands. Their body is flattened and rather elongated, with a pointed head.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Geographic Distribution Toxotes jaculatrix Data provided by FishBase.org Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Toxotidae

Distribution:    The Archer Fish or Banded Archerfish was described by Pallas in 1767. The Archer Fish or Banded Archerfish are found in most of tropical Asia, Papua New Guinea, and northern Australia, inhabiting primarily brackish waters among mangroves, but will also enter rivers and streams.

Status:    The Archer Fish or Banded Archerfish is not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:    The Archer Fish is a fairly deep bodied, but elongated fish with its head slanting into a sharply pointed, v- shaped snout. It has a silver body with a golden tinting running along its back. There are six black vertical markings across the body, the first one runs through the eye, and the outer edges of the anal and dorsal fin are also black.

Size - Weight:    These fish can get up to 12 inches (30 cm).

Care and feeding:    The Archer Fish are primarily carnivores. They can be fed freeze dried foods, flake foods and small live insects. They will also eat frozen foods such as brine shrimp and bloodworms.
   While they will do fine in a tank that's completely full of water, they are best appreciated if kept in a tank that is only partially filled. This way their unusual feeding ability can be appreciated. They live mainly in brackish mangrove swamps so their tank water should also be brackish.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:    The Archer Fish or Banded Archerfish will spend most of their time in the middle or top on the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions: They are often obtain when young as a freshwater fish, but for long term care brackish water is recommended.
    Ph: fairly hard, neutral to slightly alkaline 7.0 - 8.0 is fine
   Temp: 77 - 86° F (25 – 30° C)

Social Behaviors:    They can get aggressive with others of their own kind if they differ in size, so it best to keep a single specimen or avoid combining Archer Fish of different sizes. They are generally non-aggressive with other types of fish and they will do well in a brackish water community tank. Other brackish fish such as Four Eye Fish, Mudskippers or Mollies can make good tank mates, as can monos, scats, and puffers.

Sexual Differences:    Sexual differences are unknown.

Breeding/Reproduction:    The Archer Fish has been bred in captivity by a commercial fish farm, Ausyfish Pty Ltd, according to Bruce Sambell as seen in the reader comments below. For the fascinating details check Breeding Freshwater Fish - Archerfish or read the comment on Archerfish from Bruce (see Archerfish Comments).

Availability:    The Archer fish or Banded Archerfish is commonly available.

Author: Ken Childs
Edited by Animal-World

Lastest Comments on Archer Fish View all 7 comments on Archer Fish Add Your Comment

Anonymous - 2011-12-27 I finally found a place that is not sold out of archer fish and I am thinking of getting some. I would like to breed them but I hear it has never been done before. Some people think it is because they go to saltwater to spawn, I think they would go to freshwater, so maybe I could get a brackish tank with a few of these and slowly change the water to slat and let it stay for a while then slowly change it back to brackish wait awhile, then slowly change it to fresh then slowly change it back to brackish then repeat every 2 months until it works. Will this work? Reply

Ben - 2011-07-09 Archerfish can be kept in freshwater. In their native waters, Archerfish have been found in pure freshwater, miles from the brackish estuaries. If they die in a freshwater tank it is mainly because they are fed an improper diet and not because of the water. They cannot survive on flake alone and need insects in their diet. Click For Replies (1) Charlie Roche - 2011-07-11 Thank you. Reply

Bruce Sambell - 2007-07-25 Thought you might be intersted to know that archer fish have been bred in Australia by a commercial fish farm, Ausyfish Pty Ltd, that's me. They were spawned with hormone. About 10,000 eggs hatched. They were a variety which is strictly freshwater! here is some information that may be of interest. Click For Replies (1) David Brough - 2011-06-06 Thanks for the great information about archer fish captive breeding. Your facility is awesome, it is worth checking out your website at http://www.ausyfish.com/ Reply

John - 2011-01-29 Awesome fish, one of my favorite types. Most websites only focus on the fact that they spit water, but this site is way better. Click For Replies (1) JASMINE - 2011-05-18 I KNOW THEY ARE COOL FISH Reply

keelee.R.M - 2010-02-18 The tv showed this stuff on animal planet, these things have pretty good aiming. I go crawdaddy fishing and I don't even have good aim to stab 1 craw dad. Reply

philip - 2007-06-05 While these fish are a joy to have outdoors, they are susceptable to many dangers if mixed with koi, which produce far too much ammonia. As well, the larger they grow the more they require brackish water. This is usually obtained when water is 1.010 (1 tablespoon aquarium salt to every 5 gallons water) I have found that a 35+ gallon tank(55 gallon) is a good "only" tank that is prepared using a crushed coral or sand substrate (dont bother with "live" sand, your salinity will be too low to keep it that way). They like warm conditions as well, 78-80 degrees F. preferred. The younger fish around 3 inches or less are more comfortable if they have Plants around the surface of the water. Mangroves (as they are their native habitat) are best, as well as Java Moss. Both these plants thrive in Brackish water, that excludes most common Aquarium live plants. Fellow tank mates can include Figure 8 puffers, Knight Gobys, Mudskippers, Scats, Mollies, and fiddler crabs, as well as some other brackish friendly fish. Again, this is not a freshwater fish, so use caution if you tend to want a community of fish that are readily available from your local fish store. But by the same token, these fish are so entertaining and expressive and unique that building a tank around them is a true hobbyist adventure. Reply

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