African tiger fish slaughter swallows in flight [video]

Ok, so you've heard of several birds diving into the water to make a quick little mouth. Well, but the other way around? This must be a little rarer, right? Indeed. In fact, prior to the recent record by the director of the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management at Potchefstroom University (South Africa), Nico Smit, a freshwater fish had never been caught hunting a bird.

The video below shows the exact moment when an African tiger fish jumps from a lake in Mapungubwe National Park to snap at a carefree swallow - abruptly (though undeniably beautiful) stopping the animal's grazing flight.

"The whole action, between jumping and catching the swallow in mid-flight, was incredibly fast, so after the first occurrence it took a while for us to understand what we had seen, " Smit said in an interview with the journal. Nature According to him, after the "fall of the chip", the impression was of "pure contentment, since we realized that we had been spectators of something amazing and unique."

Random Proof

It is worth remembering, however, that the unique ability of the African tiger fish ( Hydrocynus vittatus, as noted in that publication) has been rumored since the 1940s. However, Smit states that “he was never fully convinced by anecdotes” told here and there by the locals.

In fact, the researcher's group did not even seek proof of popular sayings - as the study focused primarily on migration patterns and habitat characteristics typical of South African tiger fish. In other words, Smit and his group did not look for “flying” fish and bird predators.

Nevertheless, the group was presented with an average of 20 tiger jumps per day. And that also takes into account the whole process of 'slaughtering': from the underwater movement to the jump and finally an unlucky swallow buried in the water.

Smit also hopes the discovery will help attract the focus of the scientific community. "We hope our findings will help focus attention on the importance of research related to the most common freshwater fish, especially with regard to behavior, " he concludes.