Electric eels have fascinated scientists and the public for hundreds of years.
Even Charles Darwin was puzzled by them.
What is the shocking secret behind an electric eel’s weapon?
Hey guys Julia here for DNews
Electric eels are some of the most shocking…. okay sorry had to do that once… organisms
on this planet.
They can harness the power of electricity to hunt.
But electric eels aren’t eels at all, they’re actually a type of knife fish found in the
Amazon River Basin in South America.
They’re just one type of dozens of fish that use electrical fields as sort of extrasensory
perception.
But they’re the only ones with a charge strong enough to kill.
Basically electric eels and other fish have modified muscle cells that stack on top of
each other.
They work kind of like batteries.
Okay when I say kind of, I mean Alessandro Volta actually modeled batteries after electric
eels!
Typically an eel can have as many as 6,000 of these cells called electrocytes.
These stacks of cells are negatively charged inside and their outsides are positively charged,
each cells has the potential of .08 volts.
Not a lot, and considering the charges alternate, no current flows.
But as soon as the eel is triggered by spotting a potential prey, these cells open up and
an influx of sodium ions changes the polarity, so now the stacks have a positive and negative
end which creates an electric current.
With all the cells stacked together, in some species of fish, the charge can reach as many
as 600 volts of electricity.
While that might sound like a lot, it’s not enough to kill a man, because the shocks
are delivered very quickly in a matter of milliseconds.
but it's certainly enough electricity to shock a small fish.
But the coolest thing about electric eels special shocking power, it’s not just for
killing prey.
Their shocks have a stealth mode, they have a low voltage version that helps them hunt.
These electric shocks act an awful lot like sonar bats use.
They can send them out as feelers, sensing if any fish are lurking near by.
But even their big shocks have a dual function.
One study published in the journal Nature Communications found it’s for hunting too.
The lead author of the study told National Geographic that “The eel can use its electric
attack simultaneously as a weapon and a sensory system, it’s sort of a science-fiction-like
ability.”
Once they hone in on a prey they have a “remote control” mode.
They send out two closely spaced high-voltage discharges, called doublets which makes the
prey’s body contract involuntarily.
This movement sends ripples through the water.
It lets the eel know it’s an alive thing and possibly prey.
It can even make the fish “freeze”.
It shocks their neurological system so the fish can’t move.
While ideal for catching smaller prey, sometimes the shock isn’t enough for catching larger
fish.
So an eel has to amp up their power.
A recent study published in the journal Current Biology found that eels boost their electric
zap by curling into a circle.
This brings the positively charged end of their body, their head, with the negatively
charged tail area.
By bringing the two points closer together, the fish can double their shock.
While their shock isn’t enough to kill a person, it’s still pretty painful.
Those who’ve experienced it say it’s a lot like running into an electric fence.
So I wouldn’t exactly try fishing for one anytime soon.
As close as I’d like to get is Twitter.
Miguel Wattson is an electric eel at the Tennessee Aquarium sends a tweet whenever he sends out
zap!
check him out @EelectricMiguel
But there are a ton of other animals I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.
Electric eels and sharks often get a bad reputation for being dangerous and deadly, but there
are some freshwater animals you should be way more terrified of.
Julian and Natalia Reagan have the scoop on four Freshwater Animals More Terrifying Than
Sharks in this episode right here.
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