Archerfish coordinate fin maneuvers with their shots

ABSTRACT Archerfish down a variety of aerial prey from range distances using water jets that they adjust to the size and distance their prey. We describe here characteristic rapid fin maneuvers, most notably pectoral pelvic fins, are precisely coordinated with release jet. discovered these maneuvers in two fish, which had been characterized detail, trained shoot fixed positions at targets different heights remained stable during shots. Based on findings individuals, we examined shooting-associated movement 28 further archerfish species could freely chosen heights. Slightly before onset jet, time when shooter remains stable, fins all shooters switched asynchronous low-amplitude beating synchronized forward flap. The duration subsequent backward flap were robust across individuals shooting angles but depended target height. slowly adducted start jet stopped moving after its release. All other also showed sequence activation, some starting ∼0.5 s shot. Our suggest shooting-related needed stabilize shooter, an important component precise powerful far-distance archerfish.