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Electric eel skeleton, with the long vertebral column at top, the row of bony rays below. Electric eels have long, stout bodies, being somewhat cylindrical at the front but more flattened towards the tail end. E. electricus can reach 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length, and 20 kg (44 lb) in weight. The mouth is at the front of the snout, and opens upwards.
Electric eels use electricity in multiple ways. Low voltages are used to sense the surrounding environment. High voltages are used to detect prey and, separately, stun them, at which point the electric eel applies a suction-feeding bite. [12] Anatomy of an electric eel's electric organs. Sachs' organ is associated with electrolocation. Inside ...
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]
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 capabilities are found almost exclusively in aquatic or amphibious animals, since water is a much better conductor of electricity than air.
Electric eel anatomy: first detail shows electric organs, made of stacks of electrocytes. Second detail shows an individual cell with ion channels and pumps through the cell membrane; A nerve cell's terminal buttons are releasing neurotransmitters to trigger electrical activity. Final detail shows coiled protein chains of an ion channel.
Built from jelly-like materials, the self-healing batteries were developed by a team at the University of Cambridge after they took inspiration from the muscle cells of electric eels.
After being swallowed alive, Japanese eels were able to escape from a predator fish’s stomach and swim to freedom through the fish’s gills, new research shows.
The electric discharge pattern of bluntnose knifefishes is similar to the low voltage electrolocative discharge of the electric eel. This is thought to be a form of bluffing Batesian mimicry of the powerfully protected electric eel. [28] Fish that prey on electrolocating fish may "eavesdrop" [29] on the discharges of their prey to detect them.