The electric eel, an eel-shaped South American fish of the naked-backed electric eel family, can produce an electric current strong enough to stun people and is the most powerful freshwater fish The output voltage can reach 300-800 volts, so the electric eel is known as the high-voltage line in the water. It is not a real eel, but is closely related to the catfish species. The electric eel was selected on the website of the National Geographic magazine in the United States. One of the most feared freshwater animals on earth in the inventory, its superb electrical discharge skills have made it a well-known fish as a display fish in an aquarium or as an ornamental fish.

I. Can electric eels electrocute people?

An electric eel that lives in the Amazon and Guyana rivers in South America. It is about 2 meters long and weighs 20 kilograms. Its body surface is smooth and scaleless, its back is black, its abdomen is orange-yellow, and it has no dorsal and pelvic fins. The anal fins are particularly long and are the main swimming organs.

The electric eel is the freshwater fish with the strongest discharge ability among the fish. Its output voltage is 300 volts, and some even can reach 800 volts. Within the range of 3-6 meters in the water, people are often knocked out by the electricity released by the electric eel, or even drowned by falling into the water. Therefore, it is called the high voltage line in the water.

The basic structure of the electric eel's generator is similar to that of the electric rays, and it is also composed of many electric plates. Its generators are distributed in the muscles on both sides of the body, the tail of the body is positive, the head is negative, and the current flows from the tail to the head. Powerful electrical currents occur when the eel's head and tail touch an enemy, or are affected by a stimulus. Electric eels discharge primarily for survival. Because electric eels hunt other fish and aquatic life, electrical discharge is a means of obtaining prey. The electricity it releases can easily kill animals smaller than it, and sometimes larger animals, such as horses wading in rivers and swimming cows, and electric eels are also stunned.

Electric eel meat is delicious and nutritious. Although it can release a powerful current, the indigenous people of South America have their own way of catching it. After using the electric eel to discharge continuously, it takes a period of time to rest and replenish abundant food before it can restore the original discharge intensity. When the electric eel is exhausted, it can be caught directly.