Scientific name: Toxotes blythii
Common name: Clouded archerfish
Origin: Burma
Size: Unknown for sure; likely around 15cm/6in
Diet: Wild archerfish feed mainly on insects, spiders, crustaceans and small fish. In captivity they greedily take all sorts of dried and frozen foods including good quality floating pellets.
Water: Other freshwater archers do well in moderately soft to hard water conditions, and Toxotes blythii is probably similar. Does not need to be kept in brackish water. Temperature 25-28°C/77-82°F, pH 6.5-8.0.
Aquarium: Archerfish are riverine fish that appreciate swimming space and a strong water current. A singleton might be maintained in a 200-litre aquarium with a decent filter, but it a group of three or four in 350 litres would be more impressive. Provide plenty of shade at the surface, either by using floating plants or normal plants with leaves that float up to the surface. All archers will jump out of uncovered tanks.
Sexing: Archerfish are not sexually dimorphic. Indeed, their breeding biology is a complete mystery! The brackish water species are said to swim to coral reefs and spawn there, but that presumably isn’t the case with freshwater species like Toxotes blythii.
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Notes: For many years Toxotes blythii was a species only known about from a few drawings and photos, but in the last year or so it has appeared on the lists of fish traded by Southeast Asian exporters. Part of the problem seems to be that Toxotes blythii comes from a very restricted part of Burma that isn’t easy to get to, so collecting trips are very rare.
Information Courtesy of
www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk
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