Rumors about the elusive African tigerfish preying on low-flying birds have been circulating for a while now. However, scientists and researchers have never been able to see or document these events, until now. Recently, scientists were able to capture on camera a tigerfish in action and what they saw was terrifying.
There are two types of African tigerfish, of which the Hydrocynus vittatus has long been rumored to prey on birds. These fish are very popular among game fishermen due to the challenge that they pose. The tigerfish have also long been recognized as Africa's local equivalent of the piranha due to their extreme aggression and interlocking teeth. These fish also have distinct similarities to dorados, another type of fish known to inhabit South America, like the piranha. While these three fish are very similar, they belong to different families.
With the release of the recently filmed footage, it has finally been confirmed that the African tigerfish is the first freshwater fish known to prey on birds. The video was taken on a sunny day in an African lake. The footage shows a group of low flying migrant swallows flying over the lake. As one of the birds flies a few feet above the water, an African tigerfish suddenly jumps out from the water, grabbing and dragging the bird to its watery grave.
"The whole action of jumping and catching the swallow in flight happens so incredibly quickly that after we first saw it, it took all of us a while to really fully comprehend what we had just seen," says Nico Smit. Smit serves as the Director of the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management based from the North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
The scientists who filmed the footage also reported their findings in a report published in the Journal of Fish Biology. While the findings can be viewed as a new discovery, locals have been aware of the feeding behavior of tigerfish and rumors of their voracious appetite and taste for birds have been circulating for the past 70 years. However, this is the first time that the rumors have been proved to be true, thanks to the entire incident being caught on camera.
