Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The electric eels are a genus, Electrophorus, of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts. Their electrical capabilities were first studied in 1775, contributing to the invention in 1800 of the ...
Electrophorus electricus is the best-known species of electric eel. It is a South American electric fish. Until the discovery of two additional species in 2019, the genus was classified as the monotypic, with this species the only one in the genus. [2] Despite the name, it is not an eel, but rather a knifefish. [3]
The American eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. [2] The American eel has a slender, supple, snake-like body that is covered with a mucus layer, which makes the eel ...
Among the electric fishes are electric eels, knifefish capable of generating an electric field, both at low voltage for electrolocation and at high voltage to stun their prey. An electric fish is any fish that can generate electric fields, whether to sense things around them, for defence, or to stun prey. Most fish able to produce shocks are ...
Eel life history. Eels are any of several long, thin, bony fishes of the order Anguilliformes. They have a catadromous life cycle, that is: at different stages of development migrating between inland waterways and the deep ocean. Because fishermen never caught anything they recognized as young eels, the life cycle of the eel was long a mystery.
The electric eel is the largest of the gymnotiform fishes, growing up to more than 2 m (6.6 ft) length. Species of Gymnotus range from about 10–100 cm (0.3–3.3 ft) in total length. [ 3 ] [ 4 ]
Description. It closely resembles E. electricus but differs in skull morphology, including having a depressed skull and a wide head. It has a maximum voltage of 860 volts, making it not only the strongest bioelectricity generator of the three electric eel species, but also of any animal. [3] Males get larger than females by about 35 cm (14 in).
History of bioelectricity. The history of bioelectricity dates back to ancient Egypt, where the shocks delivered by the electric catfish were used medicinally. In the 18th century, the abilities of the torpedo ray and the electric eel were investigated by scientists including Hugh Williamson and John Walsh.