ELECTRIC FISH AND THE DANGEROUS ELECTRIC EEL 

DId you know that the electric eel is the most dangerous electric fish that can release powerful electric charges of up to 650 volts, that’s more than five times the power of a standard wall socket?

An electric fish is any fish that can generate electric fields. Most electric fish are also electroreceptive, meaning that they can sense electric fields. The only exception is the stargazer family. Electric fish, although a small minority, include both oceanic and freshwater species, and both cartilaginous and bony fishes.

Electric fish produce their electrical fields from an electric organ. This is made up of electrocytes, modified muscle or nerve cells, specialized for producing strong electric fields, used to locate prey, for defence against predators, and for signalling, such as in courtship. Electric organ discharges are two types, pulse and wave, and vary both by species and by function.

Electric fish have evolved many specialised behaviours. The predatory African sharptooth catfish eavesdrops on its weakly electric mormyrid prey to locate it when hunting, driving the prey fish to develop electric signals that are harder to detect. Bluntnose knifefishes produce an electric discharge pattern similar to the electrolocation pattern of the dangerous electric eel, probably a form of Batesian mimicry to dissuade predators. Glass knifefish that are using similar frequencies move their frequencies up or down in a jamming avoidance response; African knifefish have convergently evolved a nearly identical mechanism

The electric eel gets its name from its shocking abilities! Special organs in the eel’s body release powerful electric charges of up to 650 volts—that’s more than five times the power of a standard United States wall socket!

Although electric eels have the power to be the bullies of the Amazon, they are actually not very aggressive animals. The eel uses its shock to stun prey and keep predators at bay.

Electric eels are nocturnal. They live in muddy, dark waters, and have poor eyesight. So instead of using eyes, electric eels emit a weak electric signal, which they use like radar to navigate, to find a mate, and to find prey. Once prey is found, electric eels will use a much stronger shock to stun prey, usually smaller fish.

Electric eels can grow up to 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length. Despite their appearance, electric eels aren’t actually eels at all! They are more closely related to carp and catfish. Also, the shock of an electric eel has been known to knock a horse off its feet. Now that’s shocking!

Sources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_fish

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/electric-eel