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Animal Themes
Fish
Freshwater

Archerfish

Archerfish
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.65

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    assault, gill, definitely, directly, species, riverbank, shots, vegetation, actually, mangrove, spans, acute, powerful, pressing, alike, potential

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Archerfish   
1     If archerfish are not the best shooters of all animals, they are definitely the best of all fishes! Yet, they don't have holsters wrapped around their tiny body frames -- up to 16 inches long -- where they can draw pistols. So, we are bound to wonder: what do archerfish shoot with? Well, it turns out that they conceal their assault weapon in their mouths and only train it at insects or other small animals on overhanging vegetation.
 
2     When archerfish spot a potential meal resting on a tree branch near the riverbank, they first make a tube by pressing their tongues firmly against a groove on the roof of their mouths, and then force water through the tube by contracting their gill covers. With these two steps combined, archerfish are able to pump a powerful jet of water that can reach 4 feet high.
 
3     Though archerfish can "fire shots" with their mouths, they still need acute vision to help them aim and knock down prey. Fortunately, they have just that! Archerfish position their large, keen eyes very close to their mouths. Then, they practice repeatedly until they perfect their skill and learn to overcome refraction. Refraction happens when light enters water. If archerfish look up prey at an angle, refraction distorts the image of their target, making the animal appear elsewhere than it actually is. Only with experience will archerfish know that they can avoid or minimize refraction by shooting from directly under the doomed victim.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
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