Fish leaps to catch birds on the wing

January 12, 2014 8:09 AM

...a fish grabs one of the famously speedy birds straight out of the air.
posted by Confess, Fletch (31 comments total)

I've seen a largemouth bass suck-down a baby duckling off the surface of a lake. It was just paddling along behind its mother and siblings, when, suddenly, there was muffled *POP* and the duckling was gone, with just ripples in the water radiating out from where it had been.

Fish are assholes.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:22 AM on January 12, 2014 [8 favorites]

WHAT THE FUCK TIGERFISH
posted by Kitteh at 8:30 AM on January 12, 2014

WHAT THE FUCK TIGERFISH

Tigerfish was hungry, yet in a hurry, so it grabbed a snack.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:37 AM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

Holy sheeeeeeet those teeth.
posted by tickingclock at 8:41 AM on January 12, 2014

The tigerfish had to be tracking the bird underwater, building up speed for the breach at the right moment.
posted by Kruger5 at 8:54 AM on January 12, 2014 [4 favorites]

Tiger Fish don't care.
posted by stbalbach at 8:56 AM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

The tigerfish had to be tracking the bird underwater

Which would also mean that it's correcting for refractive distortion, right?
posted by yoink at 8:57 AM on January 12, 2014 [4 favorites]

That fish face should be a meme, but I lack meme-fu.
posted by Rinku at 9:00 AM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

That's crazy and totally cool. Nature red in tooth and claw and scaly jumping motherfucking badassness.
posted by OmieWise at 9:30 AM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

The tigerfish they caught on River Monsters was huge and badass.

One time I saw a mouse swimming across a lake (odd in its own right) get dominated/gulped by a smallmouth bass.
posted by stinkfoot at 9:32 AM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

Swallow should have suspected something was up the minute he heard them banjos.
posted by dr. boludo at 9:38 AM on January 12, 2014 [22 favorites]

An eagle ate my brother.

VENGANCE IS MINE, BIRD. I HOPE YOU DIGEST IN HELL!

BWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!
posted by eriko at 9:57 AM on January 12, 2014

From this post yesterday, I saw a good reason not to swim in a Papua New Guinean lake, too.
posted by ambrosen at 10:21 AM on January 12, 2014

That is one fish you do not want to tickle.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 10:34 AM on January 12, 2014

Wins today's award for utterly inappropriate musical accompaniment.

Although the tiger fish was no doubt feeling awfully chipper afterwards, so.
posted by thomas j wise at 11:28 AM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

"What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow a giant fish swallowing an unladen swallow?"

"What do you mean? An African or European swallow? Or, more to the point, an African or European fish?"
posted by limeonaire at 11:32 AM on January 12, 2014

The swallow's last thought was probably "Why the hell did no-one warn me?" Tigerfish are seriously scary.
posted by arcticseal at 12:00 PM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

Wins today's award for utterly inappropriate musical accompaniment.

Although imagine this clip as the culmination of a Benny Hill-style chase back and forth over the pond...
posted by Herr Zebrurka at 12:26 PM on January 12, 2014

Reminds me of this. Hungry fish.
posted by IvoShandor at 12:48 PM on January 12, 2014

WHAT THE FUCK TIGERFISH

Coincidentally, the little-known original title to the famous Tom Jones song.
posted by Celsius1414 at 12:53 PM on January 12, 2014

I'm always bothered when there is something "lower" (by my arbitrary and unscientific standards) on the evolutionary totem pole when they eat something "higher" in the chain. Like preying mantis eating birds. It really messes with some very primitive part of my brain and I feel more than a bit confused. Exceptions seem to be ones that have been drilled into my head, like sharks or crocs. But a fish eating a bird? All sorts of wrong-i-do-not-feel-safe-anymore feelings.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 1:13 PM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Fucking dinosaurs, thinking they can fly over my lake. I'll show you which clade rules the world!"
posted by tavella at 1:53 PM on January 12, 2014 [4 favorites]

[icnh], when I was in Botany school we got a whole lecture on why the labels we use for creatures and processes in biology can be misleading. His starting point was the terminology for the position of the gynecium (soon to be seed pod) relative to the flower: superior means "on top" and inferior means "below". There is no value judgement associated with either of these terms. They both lend themselves to evolutionary success in different (or the same) environments. The other revelation (sounds heavy, man, but it still makes me stop and think about what the hell is going on here!) is that evolution is not a teleological process - it literally has no purpose. And the more you think about it, the more it's clear that this is both really bizarre and entirely true. WE are the ones who bring order to the world, but it doesn't always shape up to our expectations. Which is when the fun begins!

If you need further evidence of this, I'd suggest a course in parasitology. ;-)
posted by sneebler at 2:28 PM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

I once escorted a swimming chipmunk to shore, following closely in my kayak so a northern pike wouldn't get him. This was right after seeing a pike take a full-grown bullfrog in one gulp. And shortly thereafter, I stopped fishing for pike in my kayak altogether, because I decided that there just wasn't enough room in there for both me and one of those vicious toothy bastards.
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 2:41 PM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

that tiger fish looks like it evolved from the apocalypse
posted by angrycat at 3:08 PM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

That tiger fish was probably showing off for his lazy catfish cousins, who merely grab their avian meals off the shore.
posted by TedW at 4:14 PM on January 12, 2014

yoink: "The tigerfish had to be tracking the bird underwater

Which would also mean that it's correcting for refractive distortion, right?"

Archerfish have already been shown to have this ability

Archerfish are incredible creatures. They lurk under the surface of the water in rivers and seas, waiting for an insect to land on the plants above. Then, suddenly, and with unbelievable accuracy, they squirt out a stream of water that strikes down the insect. The insect falls, and by the time it hits the water, the archerfish is already waiting in place ready to swallow it up.

The article also explains how the construction of their water "arrow" takes advantage of some other physics tricks.
posted by Jakey at 6:17 PM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

thorzdad, you sure that wasn't a snapping turtle? they eat ducklings, too.
posted by lester at 7:15 PM on January 12, 2014

Sneaker, quite aware of this distinctions. Doesnt stop my hindbrain from shouting "WRONG!WRONG!WRONG!WRONG!"
posted by [insert clever name here] at 9:45 PM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

Swallow's all, "What the fuck tiger fish?"
Tiger fish is all, "Dude, you're a swallow."
posted by Phreesh at 8:30 AM on January 13, 2014

NEVER swim in African lakes

Not that this is that common, but you don't even have to swim in an African lake for it to kill you:

Lake Nyos Disaster
posted by rosswald at 1:01 PM on January 13, 2014