How does the largescale archerfish see?
The largescale archerfish (Toxotes chatareus) is a fish in the order Perciformes. Its eyes belong to the vision type Shallow-water fish tetrachromat.
Measured in this species: colour and sharpness. Measured colour or sharpness: a measured receptor set or acuity in this species; other dials come from relatives or group defaults. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- It has two colour receptor classes (a dichromat): reds and greens fall on one axis, as in red-green colour blindness in people.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 3.3 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- Both eyes see the same 32.85° in front of it (binocular overlap), where depth is judged best.
- It stops seeing flicker at 51 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks choppier to it.[12][10]
- Activity pattern: diurnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 2 receptor classes: 453 nm (SWS (blue)), 621.7 nm (LWS (long)) measured in this species | Measured (not re-verified) | [1] |
| Sharpness | Acuity 3.3 cycles per degree median of 1 behavioural rows (method priority rule); acuity_cpd: dim-light rows (bright-light rows used) set aside (labelled alternative: 3.23, 4.00) | Measured | [2] |
| Field of view | Binocular overlap 32.85° group default: median of tier-A values in vision type V18 within phylum Chordata (2 species: Danio rerio, Notemigonus crysoleucas) | Group default | [3] |
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 0 mode of species-v1 relatives in family Toxotidae: Toxotes jaculatrix | Estimated | [4] |
| Fovea type ventrotemporal area (high rgc density) | Estimated | [4] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern diurnal group default: mode of tier-A values in vision type V18 within phylum Chordata (224 species: Amphiprion ocellaris, Acanthochromis polyacanthus, Acanthurus bahianus, Acanthurus chirurgus, Acanthurus coeruleus… | Group default | [5][6] |
| Rods vs cones cone-dominated | Group default | [5][6] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 51 Hz median of 26 relatives in order Perciformes: Dicentrarchus labrax, Thunnus albacares, Acanthochromis polyacanthus, Thunnus obesus, Centropristis striata, Chaetodipterus faber | Group default | [7][8][9][10][11] |
Related animals
- Banded archerfish same vision type
- Yellowfin tuna same vision type
- Ambon damelfish same vision type
- American yellow perch same vision type
- Atlantic spadefish same vision type
- Barrier reef anemonefish same vision type
More fish: all fish with measured vision data.
Sources
- Murphy MJ, Westerman EL. 2022. Evolutionary history limits species' ability to match colour sensitivity to available habitat light. Proc R Soc B 289:20220612. Electronic supplementary Table S1. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0612
- Caves EM, Fernandez-Juricic E, Kelley LA (2024) Ecological and morphological correlates of visual acuity in birds. J Exp Biol 227(2): jeb246063. Supplementary Table S1.. doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246063
- Pita D, Moore BA, Tyrrell LP, Fernandez-Juricic E. 2015. Vision in two cyprinid fish: implications for collective behavior. PeerJ 3:e1113.. doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1113
- species_v1:Temple et al. 2010
- Froese R. & Pauly D. (eds). FishBase, snapshot v25.04 (morphmet, morphdat, species, families tables), distributed as parquet by C. Boettiger for rfishbase.. fishbase.org
- Moura et al. 2024. A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22:e3002658. TetrapodTraits v3.0.1.. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22536349
- Horodysky A, Brill R, Crawford K et al. (2013) Comparative visual ecophysiology of mid-Atlantic temperate reef fishes. Biology Open
- Fogg LG, Chung W-S, Marshall NJ, Cortesi F, de Busserolles F. 2023. Multiple rod layers increase the speed and sensitivity of vision in nocturnal reef fishes. Proc R Soc B 290 (doi:10.1098/rspb.2023.1749). Data: Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.280gb5mtf, mirrored on Zenodo 7636493. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.280gb5mtf
- Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?