11 Fish That Hunt Land Animals Above
#11: Rainbow Trout As the name suggests, the rainbow trout is
a very colorful fish.
However, they have no specific color scheme and may vary in appearance depending on the
region or the subspecies.
These fish are native to the US, South Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America.
They weigh between one to five pounds and are generally blue-green or olive green with
heavy black spotting over the length of the body.
They are a highly invasive species, capable of negatively altering whatever new environment
they are introduced to.
Part of this is due to their highly diverse diet.
The rainbow trout was assumed to be a purely aquatic feeder until 2013 when a team of French
researchers from the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge found a trout with 20 shrews in its
stomach.
The rainbow trout can leap very high into the air and snaps at any small land animals
that wander too close to the water's surface.
# 10: Mudskipper As amphibious fish, mudskippers split their
time between the land and the water.
As such, they are adapted to hunting animals within both environments.
These creatures, with their peculiar appearance, can grow up to 12 inches long, and most are
a brownish-green color that ranges anywhere from dark to light.
The Mudskipper's fins are adapted to help it move around on land.
They can help the fish skip from place to place, hence the name Mudskipper.
They can even climb low branches.
As if that isn't enough, they can breathe through their skin and throat, allowing them
to stay above the surface for extended periods of time.
Mudskippers eat small crabs, insects, snails, and even other mudskippers.
These creatures' terrestrial habits might frighten some, especially when coupled with
their strange looks.
However, in Vietnam, they make the job easier for fishermen, to capture them and convert
them into delicacies.
# 9: Basket-bearing Archerfish Most species of archerfish live in freshwater,
although a few can be found within brackish water.
They can be found from India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, through Southeast Asia, to
Northern Australia and Melanesia.
They are thin, compressed fishes that grow as long as 7 inches, although one particular
species can reach as long as 16 inches.
The archerfish has a peculiar way of hunting its prey.
It typically feeds on land-based insects and small animals and shoots them down with a
burst of water droplets using its mouth.
The fish are remarkably accurate, and they always hit their targets on the first try.
This is, in part, due to their superior eyesight, which allows them to compensate for the refraction
of light by water.
They can hit targets up to 10 feet above the water's surface.
And this ability is all the more impressive when you learn that they have no specialized
organs to help them achieve this.
# 8: European Wels Catfish Also known as Sheatfish, this species of fish
is native to the basins of the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas.
However, it was introduced to Europe as a prized sportfish and is now collected for
pride or for pleasure.
The Wels catfish has a long lifespan and can live up to 50 years.
Like other members of the eel family, it is characterized by its flat, broad head and
wide mouth.
Their length reaches between 4 feet to 7 feet.
Depending on their size, they weigh between 33 pounds to 143 pounds.
These creatives eat just about anything, ranging from worms to insects to fish.
Larger types have also been known to eat frogs, mice, rats, and ducks.
They feed on land animals by lunging out of the water to capture them.
These Wels catfish are also notorious for attacking humans.
A young woman went swimming in a lake in Straubing-Bogen in southeastern Bavaria when one of these
catfish bit into her leg.
She managed to get away alright, but the large bite mark allowed experts to estimate that
the fish had been about 7 feet long.
# 7: Killer Whale Killer Whales, also known as Orcas, are members
of the dolphin family.
With the second-heaviest brain among marine mammals, they are highly intelligent creatures,
capable of imitating others and deliberately teaching new skills to their kind.
In spite of the fact that they are quite playful and social in nature, these creatures are
apex predators.
Some feed exclusively on fish, while others feed on marine mammals such as seals and other
species of dolphins.
They are a cosmopolitan species and can be found in waters all around the world.
Killer whales range between 20 to 26 feet long.
They also weigh between 7000 to 8000 pounds.
Although there isn't any documented case of wild Killer whales killing humans, killer
whales in captivity have been known to attack their handlers from time to time.
On February 24, 2010, the large Icelandic bull orca Tilikum killed Dawn Brancheau, an
experienced trainer, at the end of a "Dine with Shamu" show at SeaWorld Orlando.
Tilikum grabbed Brancheau by her ponytail and pulled her into the water, drowning her.
# 6: Silver Arowana The Silver Arowana is a South American freshwater
bony fish.
It has relatively large scales, a long body, and a tapered tail.
They can grow as long as 3 to 4 feet.
Their shiny appearances have drawn comparison to mythological dragons.
Just like some dragons, the Arowana can fly.
Or, it would be more accurate to say they can leap.
They are known as monkey fish in some areas because of their ability to leap out of the
water and capture their prey.
They mostly feed on crustaceans, insects, and small fish, although some of them have
been found with snakes, birds, bats, and mice in their stomachs.
These creatures can leap up to 6.6 feet out of the water.
Even though some humans attempt to capture them and keep them in aquariums, they require
large tanks because of their predatory status and may develop drop eye due to being out
of the air for too long.
# 5: Tiger Shark The tiger shark is also referred to as the
man-eater shark, and is mainly found in tropical and subtropical waters all around the world,
particularly the Gulf of Mexico, North American beaches, and parts of South America, as well
as off the coasts of other regions such as Africa, China, India, Australia, and Indonesia.
Because of the large size of the tiger shark, it normally occupies deep waters.
However, it has been known to visit shallow waters from time to time.
In terms of appearance and physical characteristics, the adult tiger shark has a length that ranges
from 11 feet to 14 feet.
It also attains a weight in the range between 386 to 1,400 pounds.
Since Tiger Sharks are apex predators, they eat just about anything.
Including man.
In Brazil, a drunk man by the name of Marcelo Rocha Santos waded into waters near the beach
to urinate.
Then, a shark attacked, pulling him into the water after a brief struggle.
Even though his friend managed to pull him back out, he lost a significant chunk of his
arm and leg.
Even after he was rushed to the hospital, he failed to make it out alive.
# 4: Catfish Other than the Wels catfish, two other species
of catfish are also known to hunt land animals.
These are the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the pira ba of South America.
All these species of catfish have a similar appearance, having cat-like whiskers on their
face.
They also share similar feeding patterns, having a preference for worms, insects, fish,
frogs, mice, rats, and ducks.
Most species of the catfish family tend to target humans particularly eel-tailed catfish.
In Sydney, Australia, eel-tailed catfish have been terrorizing swimmers.
A thirty-year-old mother, Jade Elizabeth Birks, reported that the last time she went swimming,
about 20 people were bitten and slashed by these creatures.
# 3: Snakehead fish Snakehead fish are native to parts of Africa
and Asia.
These predatory fish have elongated bodies with large mouths and shiny teeth.
They are capable of breathing air with their gills, allowing them to migrate short distances
over land.
Ranging between 10 to 35 inches in length, they are notorious for being invasive species.
When small, snakeheads content themselves with a diet of plankton, aquatic insects,
and mollusks.
However, when they get larger, they tend to prefer larger animals such as frogs and other
fish.
Sean Hartzell, the aquatic invasive species coordinator for the Pennsylvania Fish and
Boat Commission, issued a warning to the public against these fish.
Invasiveness aside, they contain certain viruses and bacteria that can cause harm.
# 2: African Tiger Fish Tiger sharks have a reputation that precedes
them.
But what about the African tigerfish?
These are predatory freshwater fishes that can be found all over the African continent.
Even though their diet mainly consists of other fish, they have been observed leaping
out of the water to catch barn swallows in flight.
They can grow to a length of 41 inches and have large heads with large teeth that are
split 8 per jaw.
Even though the African tigerfish hunt alone, they are fierce predators.
They take advantage of barn swallows that fly too close to the surface, hunting for
insects and lunge at them instead.
Even though there has been anecdotal evidence going back years about these creature's tendency
to hunt this way, it wasn't until recently that they were caught on camera.
In 2014, a research team in South Africa caught the fish in action on camera for the very
first time.
# 1: Piranha Piranha is a freshwater fish that inhabits
South American rivers, floodplains, lakes, and reservoirs.
They are extremely predatory and mainly feed on other fish.
However, they are omnivores who have a large diet.
There are two main reasons why piranha is so feared.
One, they tend to hunt in large schools.
And two, they have a large bite force.
Relative to body mass, the black piranha produces one of the most forceful bites measured in
vertebrates.
A single Piranha grows between 5 to 14 inches long.
However, some species have been known to reach 20 inches.
In addition to fish and plants, piranha's feed on other animals like mammals, birds,
reptiles, insects, and crustaceans.
They have an antagonistic relationship with humans and have been known to attack people
from time to time.
On Christmas day 2013, more than 70 people were attacked in a lake in Rosario, Argentina,
causing injuries to their hands or feet.
Would you rather swim with a Killer whale in captivity or have to cross a lake with
Piranhas by paddle board?