Scientists were aware that archerfish shoots water jets on its prey. But only after carrying out a study they came to know more about the precision level of this method used by the archerfish.

Researchers from University of Bayreuth affirmed that the fish collects water between the roof of its mouth and the tongue. It creates a gun-barrel-like shape and after collecting enough water, the fish closes its gills. Archerfish then builds enough energy at the tip of the water stream and spits a strong and accurate water jet on its prey, which can be a spider, insects and other small animals.

Though there are some animals that use similar tactics to get daily meal, researchers said archerfish are the best when it comes to using jets of water to hunt. Archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix) is present in the brackish waters of river estuaries and mangroves.

Archerfish is also known as spinner fish. Previous studies have unveiled that archerfish has good eyesight and they have the ability to adjust as per the refraction of light as it passes through the air-water interface.

Schuster and his colleague Peggy Gerullis conducted an experiment in which they started training fish to hit target at different heights between 20 and 60 centimeters. Videos were made to understand how the jet stream is produced.

After seeing the video, researchers realized that the fish keep on changing the shape of the stream's tip. Archerfish has complete control on jet stream and for this it opens mouth at different periods of time. Researchers stated that more the fish opens its mouth, greater is the distance of the streams.

Researchers believe that this understanding can help in improving the design of man-made nozzles in medicines and manufacturing industries.