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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 ...
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 ...
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]
Electroreception and electrogenesis are the closely related biological abilities to perceive electrical stimuli and to generate electric fields. Both are used to locate prey; stronger electric discharges are used in a few groups of fishes (most famously the electric eel, which is not actually an eel but a knifefish) to stun prey.
The Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus), also known as rice eel, ricefield eel, rice paddy eel[3] or white rice-field eel, [1] is a commercially important air-breathing species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It occurs in East and Southeast Asia, where it is commonly sold and eaten throughout the region. It has been introduced to two areas ...
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 ...
The European conger is the heaviest of all eels. Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from 5 cm (2 in) in the one-jawed eel (Monognathus ahlstromi) to 4 m (13 ft) in the slender giant moray. [7] Adults range in weight from 30 g (1 oz) to well over 25 kg (55 lb). They possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins.
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.