How do electric eels discharge electricity?
The electric eel has three pairs of abdominal organs that produce electricity: the main organ, Hunter’s organ, and Sachs’ organ. These organs make up four fifths of its body, and give the electric eel the ability to generate two types of electric organ discharges: low voltage and high voltage.
Do electric eels actually discharge electricity?
Using a combination of its three electric organs, electric eels can generate powerful or weak electrical discharges. Powerful discharges come from the Hunter’s and Main organ and are used to defend against predators or stun potential prey.
What happens if you get shocked by an electric eel?
Although there are few documented instances of people dying from an electric eel’s shock, it could happen. A single jolt could incapacitate a person long enough to cause him or her to drown, even in shallow water. Multiple shocks could cause a person to stop breathing or go into heart failure.
What is electric eel behavior?
They are nocturnal animals that live in muddy dark waters, so they must rely on electricity for sensing. Electric eels tend to stay relatively rigid in order to fully use their electrical capabilities. They have a positive charge near the head, while the tail end is negative.
Where are electric eels found?
South America
Electric eels are found inhabiting fresh waters of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America, and the electric eels tend to prefer the river floodplains, swamps, coastal plains, and creeks.
What is the life cycle of an eel?
The life cycle of an eel can be summed up in five phases: Leptocephali – eggs float to the surface and drift with the ocean current. Glass eels – larvae stage, develop fins and features after reaching the coast. Elvers – develop pigmentation, migrate to brackish waters.
How many volts does Electric eel produce?
600 volts
Electric Eel | National Geographic. Electric eels can generate an electrical charge of up to 600 volts in order to stun prey and keep predators at bay.
Has an electric eel ever killed a human?
Electric eels have killed people in South America, most likely through drowning after being shocked. There aren’t many well-documented cases of death by eel, but an electric eel’s discharge is strong enough to make a person jump in pain and to drop incapacitated into the water.
Can a dead electric eel shock you?
Electric eels aren’t eels at all. A single large electric eel can produce 860 volts. For reference, that’s 7 times the voltage coming out of a typical US power outlet. It’s enough to shock a human so that they wouldn’t be able to swim to safety and could potentially cause death by drowning.
What is the life cycle of an electric eel?
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.
What eats an electric eel?
Electric Eels prey on fish, birds, and small mammals. What are some predators of Electric Eels? Predators of Electric Eels include humans.
What is the largest electric eel ever caught?
Electrophorus voltai
The enormous 2.5 metre eel has been named the Electrophorus voltai after Alessandro Volta, the Italian physicist who invented the battery. The animal, a type of knifefish, can discharge an electric shock reaching as high as 860 volts, the most powerful of any animal known to science.
