Tuesday Fun: African Tigerfish Catches Bird Mid-Flight – VIDEO

SnowBrains |

Ah, the Tigerfish. ย Africa’s answer to the infamous Piranha, but maybe even more vicious. ย Certainly more accurate. ย This video shows a African Tigerfish jumping out of the water and grabbing a bird in flight..

Think of the complexity of the situation: ย This Tigerfish was underwater, chasing a bird as it flew close to the water, then calculated the change in angle (water bends light resulting in something in the air appearing to be in a different spot than it actually is), finally jumping out of the water and chomping the bird while it flies by. ย Unreal.

African Tigerfish.
African Tigerfish.

AFRICAN TIGERFISH INFORMATION:

Tigerfishย can refer to fish from variousย families, and derives from official and colloquial associations of these with the Asianย tigerย (Panthera tigris). However, the primary species designated by the name “tigerfish” are African and belong to the familyย Alestidae.

African Tigerfish

Several species belonging to the genusย Hydrocynusย of the familyย Alestidaeย are referred to as “tigerfish,” and are particularly prized as gamefish. These African fish are found in many rivers and lakes on the continent and are fierce predators with distinctive, proportionally large teeth.

The goliath tigerfish (Hydrocynus goliath) is among the most famous tigerfish. It can reportedly reach an adult weight of 50ย kg (110ย lb), and is found in theย Congo Riverย system andย Lake Tanganyika. It is the largest member of the Alestidae family. Another famous species, simply called the tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus), is commonly found in the southernlyย Okavango Delta, and theZambezi River, and also in the two biggest lakes along the Zambezi,ย Lake Karibaย in Zambia,ย Zimbabwe, andย Cabora Bassaย in Mozambique, and finally in the Jozini dam in South Africa.

Both the goliath tigerfish and its smaller relative bear a striking resemblance, in appearance and habits, to theย doradosย of South America. The African alestidae tigerfish species are silver, as opposed to the most famous species of dorado, which is golden. Coincidentally, the dorado is known as the “tigre del rio” (tiger of the river) in its homeland.(Although ‘tigre’ can refer to any predatory cat in this part of the world)

 

African Tigerfish.
African Tigerfish.

Behavior

In the western gamefishing world,ย Hydrocynus vittatusย is regarded to be Africa’s equivalent of the South Americanย piranha,[citation needed]ย though it belongs to a completely different zoological family. Like the piranha, individual tigerfish have interlocking, razor-sharp teeth, along with streamlined, muscular bodies, and are widely known to be extremely aggressive and capable predators who often hunt in groups.

The African tigerfish is the first freshwater fish to be recorded and confirmed to attack and catch birds in flight.[1]


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One thought on “Tuesday Fun: African Tigerfish Catches Bird Mid-Flight – VIDEO

  1. Now I am truly worried.. Monster fish article on SB in mid January.. Must really be little snow at Squaw and it’s getting to your snowbrains !

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