In a fight for their food for thought , electric eel bend their consistence into an arch , doubling the electrifying jolt of their high - potential pulses and stunning quarry into submission . The findings are published in the journalCurrent Biology .
These slinky creatures are powerful but mostly blind hunters . They uselow - level electrical pulsesto wander the muddy waters of the Amazon , but when faced with particularly troublesome quarry , they will wrench into a shoe shape to generate a stronger zap of electricity .
“ When the eel curls its positive and negative poles together and sandwich the prey in between , you get a focussing of the electric field , ” said study generator Kenneth Catania , a biologist at Vanderbilt University , toLive Science .
fundamentally , the positively - charged straits and negatively - level tail of the aquatic creature acts like an electric dipole antenna theatre of operations , shortening the distance between the two poles and wire their quarry .
This is no bastardly exploit : An galvanizing eel can zap its prey at600 volts , stun the wriggling animal into paralysis . For equivalence , the voltage of an mean U.S. paries socket is 120 V . The eel ’s electrifying shock is so substantial , it can evenknock a horseoff its feet .
This sinewy impulse is reach via thousands of cell in its snakelike body that are lined up like battery . While individually , each cell only generates about0.15 volts , stacked together they can stupefy a prey into meekness .
Image credit : The sequence of events during what Catania calls a " Typical Dipole Attack . " Kenneth Catania / Current Biology
To measure the voltage emission of the electric eel , Catania insert electrodes into a dead fish , hook the Pisces the Fishes onto a wire , and dangle the tempting delicacy in a small aquarium with an eel . scenario of varying difficulty were achieved by wriggling the wire to feign struggling prey . The end result face like a toy being jerk around for a African tea , but instead of a true cat , it was an electric eel .
The electric eel curl on the fair game when the struggle became a tad too much . “ The amplifying event of their curling behavior at least duplicate the effective big businessman of their discharge through prey compare to an eel in a linear position , ” spell Catania in the newspaper .
range of a function credit : When galvanic eel transfer their configuration , it can falsify their output of energy . Kenneth Catania / Current Biology
Electric eel can arise to 2.4 meters ( 8 metrical unit ) in duration and weigh 20 kilogram ( 44 pounds ) in weight . Unfortunately , electric eels are not even eels ; they are actuallyknifefish . For video of their lurid power , check out out the author’sfootage here .
“ Given the prodigious baron of the electric eel ’s discharge , one might marvel why any gain is necessitate , ” wrote Catania . “ But it is authoritative to put this behavior in a larger context . eel practice this tactic when deal large and especially sputter fair game that can not be immediately swallowed . ”
This means galvanising eel probably loop their bodies into a power position when they are smaller and have lower energy output , or when they are large but dealing with prey that have peculiarly blow - resistant tegument .
There ’s no doubt the fish ’s electric fame is well merited .
