Smallscale archerfish

Smallscale archerfish have a pointed snout and large eyes. The back is flat and the belly is curved. There is only one dorsal fin, with four to five dorsal spines. The species T. blythii was formerly thought to be identical to T. microlepis. Differences in structure and colouration caused the splitting of T. blythii into a new species. which can be yellow to silvery. The smallscale also has a shorter snout than other archerfish. ==Diet==

Smallscale archerfish eat terrestrial insects (which they can shoot down), zooplankton, crustaceans, and insect larvae. ==Distribution and habitat==

Smallscale archerfish inhabit large rivers and estuaries in Asia and the Indo-Pacific. They are distributed throughout the Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins as well as waters off the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. They can be found near the shores of moving and standing waters, usually with overhanging plants. The smallscale archerfish is described as a "freshwater archerfish", as it does not move into saltwater during its life as do some other archerfish. It is found upstream from the estuary more often than other species of the genus. ==Taxonomy==

The populations of archerfish assigned to the smallscale archerfish that occur in the rivers of southeast Asia were found to be three different species by work published in 2018, this has not yet been reflected in Fishbase. The new species are Toxotes mekongensis from the Mekong, Toxotes siamensis from the Chao Phraya and Toxotes sundaicus from Borneo, Sumatra and possibly the Malay Peninsula. This same study found that Toxotes microlepis is a synonym of Toxotes blythii. ==Relationship to humans==

Some aquarists believe the smallscale archerfish is the most frequently traded archerfish. it is thus sometimes sold as the "freshwater archerfish". ==References==