Archer fishes (Toxotidae) can bring down aerial arthropods with a yet of wa
ter from their mouth. Although most authors seem to assume that squirting d
own prey is the archer fish's source of food, it has been suggested that th
is typical foraging technique can not play an important role because, among
other things, the height at which a prey can be hit is limited, the fishes
soon tire of squirting, and other kinds of food are eaten. Owing to lack o
f information or differences concerning methods, small numbers of subjects,
and may be, differences between species, there is little agreement about t
he performance of the fish. In order to provide reliable data on marksmansh
ip, endurance of squirting, and diet, the performance of Toxotes chatareus
was observed during 25 weeks while the fishes (N = 16) got daily practice s
quirting at prey. The fishes readily took various kinds of food. Squirting
was found to be effective in that the fishes, within 4,5 squirts and 41 sec
onds, reliably hit targets at a height up to eight times their body length.
Contrary to earlier reports, the fishes were found to persist squirting at
a fixed target eight times per minute during at least 10 min. The results
concerning marksmanship, and endurance, indicate that, contrary to what has
been suggested, squirting can be an important way of foraging in the natur
al habitat.