Fish catches food on land, according to reports in news@nature and BBC News 12 April 2006. The eel catfish is a long agile fish that lives in swamps in tropical Africa and is able to propel itself out of water and catch land dwelling beetles to eat. As it leaps onto the muddy shore it lifts the front of its body upwards and bends its head downwards so that it can grab the beetle from above. It then slithers back into the water. It is not the first fish known to hunt for land dwelling prey, but its method of catching insects has never been observed before, and scientists believe this behaviour helps explain how the “first vertebrates graduating to land caught their dinner.”
Editorial Comment: The way this fish bends its body to catch insects may be unique, but fish that that can move about and catch bugs on land are not. The great Aussie Catfish even climbs trees to catch food. Such fish are able to take advantage of a land based food source because they already have the functional features needed to do it. This does not explain how a fish might turn into a land animal. (Ref. ecology, predation, transition)
Evidence News 9 August 2006