The archerfish, two to three inches long, hunts for food by shooting down insects with jets of water. But its real claim to a place in the bizarre behavior hall of fame: The fish can apparently distinguish one human face from another.

Using a computer monitor above their aquarium, researchers showed pictures of two human faces to four archerfish and trained them to shoot only at the image that produced a food reward. It didn’t take long: The smartest fish was adept after only 30 trials.

Then the researchers presented the fish with 44 color images of faces they had not seen. The archerfish were up to 89 percent accurate in shooting only at the one that they knew would produce in an insect meal.