African Halfbeak

The African halfbeak is an omnivorous fish of coastal waters and estuaries whose diet shifts with its surroundings, and it often feeds near the bottom as well as higher up.

It lives in large schools, over the surface or on the bottoms of these waters. Many halfbeaks lean heavily on insects at the surface, but this one also gathers algae and organic matter straight off the sediment. Higher in the water it takes what it can find, snapping up small invertebrates and drifting plankton.

Halfbeaks are hunted by larger fish like tuna, and can sometimes be seen leaping into the air and seeming to skip along on their tails on the surface of the water to escape predators. They can be dangerous at night when attracted to light, as they leap out of the water and have been known to cause fatalities with their beaks.