Banded Archerfish 5cm

Banded archerfish • Toxotes jaculatrix 

The Toxotes jaculatrix, or banded archerfish, is a tropical brackish-water fish famous for hunting by spitting a powerful water jet to knock insects into the water. It has a silvery, laterally compressed body with 4-5 distinctive black, triangular, or vertical bands. Typically 20-30 cm long, they feature a pointed snout, large eyes, and a posterior dorsal fin, enabling high-accuracy shooting from over a meter away. 

Key Characteristics and Biology
Appearance: Silvery/white with a deeply compressed body and a flattened back, allowing it to hide behind thin roots. It has 4-5 black vertical bands, with the first covering the gill cover and subsequent bands stopping before the lower body.
Size: Generally grows to around (8-12 inches) in length.
Shooting Mechanism: It uses a specialized mouth, creating a tube with its tongue and roof of the mouth, acting as a "super soaker".
Vision & Intelligence: It can correct for visual refraction between water and air to accurately hit prey, even leaping out of the water to grab prey directly.
Habitat: Found in mangroves, estuaries, and occasionally rivers from India, through Southeast Asia, to the Philippines, New Guinea, and Australia.
Diet: Primarily carnivores, eating spiders, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, and small aquatic creatures. 

Behavior and Captive Care
Shoaling: They are social fish that live in small groups and prefer being in schools of at least 6 to avoid aggression.
Aquarium Needs: They require a large, brackish, and spacious tank (at least 5ft long) with plenty of overhanging structures to encourage their natural hunting behavior. 

Toxotes jaculatrix is known for being intelligent, with individuals learning from others in their school to improve their aim, as described on the Toohey Forest Environmental Education Centre site.