The electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) is a fascinating knifefish creature that offers very powerful shocks. They may look like a snake, but they aren’t even a real eel. They are more closely related to catfish and carp than to other eel families. They don’t have any scales and that is one difference that sets them apart from many other forms of aquatic life. These unique looking creatures grow to lengths of 6 to 8 feet (2 to 2.5 meters). The average lifespan of electric eels in the wild is still unknown. In human care, males typically live 10 to 15 years, and females generally live 12 to 22 years.
These famous freshwater predators get their name from the enormous electrical charge they can generate to stun prey and dissuade predators. Their bodies contain electric organs with about 6,000 specialized cells called electrolytes that store power like tiny batteries. When threatened or attacking prey, these cells will discharge simultaneously.
Description Of The Electric Eel
The electric eel has a slender, snake-like body and flattened head. Its thick, scale less skin is generally dark gray to brown, and its underside is a yellow-orange color. Similar to other eel shaped fish, the electric eel lacks pelvic fins. It has a small, or reduced, caudal fin and also lacks dorsal fins. Instead, an elongated anal fin helps it maneuver through the water, where it can swim forward, backward or hover, as it searches for prey. Electric eels can reach huge proportions, exceeding 8 feet in length and 44 pounds in weight.
Three specialized electric organs—the main electrical organ, the Hunter’s organ and the Sachs’ organ—make up about 80 percent of this fish’s body. Its remaining vital organs are tightly packed within the anterior, or front, part of its body. The electric organs create strong and weak electric charges, which are utilized for defense, hunting, communication and navigation. Stronger electric charges can be energetically exhausting for this fish. Its strongest electric pulses are produced by the main electrical organ, as well as two-thirds of the Hunter’s organ. The remainder of the Hunter’s organ and the Sachs’ organ produce the weaker electric discharges.
Habitat Of The Electric Eel
The Electric Eel is widely distributed across Northern South America. Its range spans across Brazil, the Guianas, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Electric eels inhabit the quiet, slow-moving waters of ox-bow lakes, streams, pools and flooded forests of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, preferring side channels but also living further inland.
Diet Of The Electric Eel
When the Electric Eel finds prey, a message is sent to the brain and that causes an electrical charge to be produced. When the prey is touched then it will be enough electricity to kill it. There are some species that have enough current to kill a human if they come into contact with it.
Adult electric eels are generalist carnivores, eating fish, crustaceans, insects and small vertebrates, such as amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Juveniles feed primarily on invertebrates, and newly hatched electric eels will eat remaining, unhatched eggs.
Behavior Of The Electric Eel
The powerful electric shocks that the Electric Eel offers can be something for self defense and for hunting. They have three pairs of organs along the abdomen that produce the electric current. They are able to offer two currents – low voltage and high voltage.
They have to go to the surface of the water approximately every 10 minutes to be able to take in oxygen. They are only at the surface for a second though so they are often unseen by human eyes when they engage in such behaviors.
While they tend to live alone, there are locations where large numbers of them are in the same area. That is called a swarm. In places where large prey may cross the rivers, they need numbers of them to be able to create enough shock to have it to consume. They don’t have teeth.
Reproduction Of The Electric Eel
The ritual of mating is very different for the Electric Eel. The male will create a nest and use saliva to keep it together. The female will enter the nest and lay up to 1,200 eggs there. Then the male will return and fertilize them with sperm. The eggs will be left alone and a large number of them will be consumed as food by other types of predators. Only a small percentage of them will survive to become mature adults. They can live from 10 to 22 years in captivity.
NOTE: Many people have tried to keep the Electric Eel as pets due to the exotic nature of them. However, they can be very hard to care for. They need water to be a certain temperature and life food to consume. They also tend to get their tanks dirty fast and that makes it unsightly and smelly
2 Interesting Facts About The Electric Eel
- The shock of an electric eel has been known to knock a horse off its feet.
- Electric eels can produce shocks of up to 600 volts.
Electric Eel
Despite their serpentine appearance, electric eels are not actually eels. Their scientific classification is closer to carp and catfish. Their bodies contain electric organs with about 6,000 specialized cells called electrolytes that store power like tiny batteries. They are carnivores and usually eat fishes, insects, vertebrates.
Article References:
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/e/electric-eel/
- https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/electric-eel
- http://animalstime.com/electric-eel-facts-amazing-facts-about-electric-eels/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_eel
- https://www.bioexpedition.com/electric-eel/
