8 shocking facts about electric eels

[I realize most folks don't keep pet electric eels . . . however, some do. And, I didn't find a general zoology forum. I some contexts, this could be a survival thread! LOL.]
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mother nature network 9 June 2016
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Jaymi Heimbuch 8 June 2016
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Infamous creatures are much more cunning than you might suspect.

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www.mnn.com...
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[Electrical facts quote comparison:]
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[BEGIN SUPPLEMENTAL QUOTE]
An electric eel has multiple cells along its body that create a change in potential of over 500 volts. The typical current produced in an electric eel attack is around 1 amp.
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500 volts would be the same potential as about 330 D-cell batteries connected together. A typical two-battery flashlight might use a current of about 1 amp. However, since the eel has a much larger potential difference, the effects can be severe.
[END SUPPLEMENTAL QUOTE]
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“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,” according to How Stuff Works.
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Electric eels use this ability not just to hunt but also to deter attackers. The fish have delivered shocks so powerful they've killed horses, and there's even video of one shocking the daylights out of a caiman (warning for those who are sensitive):
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Electric eels will leap from the water to attack [bold in original]

As if all this information about how powerful and clever electric eels are isn't unnerving enough, a new study shows they will actually leap from the water to attack predators. That’s right, they don’t just stay put under the surface.
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I've never wanted one in my aquarium anyway. Though a shop keeper I knew had one, once, IIRC.
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I didn't realize that they are mostly air breathers--coming up to gulp air from the surface as many fish do.
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I didn't realize that they can grow to more than 8 feet in length! NO THANK YOU! NOT IN MY SWIMMING HOLE!
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That last video of the eel lighting up the gator head is rather incredible, imho.
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Definitely not a fish I'd want to pet or hand feed!
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a reply to: BO XIAN

Buh dun tss (that was a rimshot)

Cool information, I love eels. It's Weird but they are a very cool animal.

S&F

They look tasty.

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

Thanks.

What are your favorite eels?

I ate plenty of them in Asia.

a reply to: Lysergic

DOODNESS!

You can play my role in such exercises. Help yourself!

a reply to: BO XIAN

I've always had a strange curiosity about electric eels. If you aren't grounded can they still shock you?

a reply to: Vector99

I think they can. But I'm just an ignorant layman on such scores.

For one, I think contact with 2 spots on their skin is enough to get a shock.

And, usually, one is in or near the water standing on or touching the ground anyway.

BO XIAN

I wouldn't say I have any favorite in particular. Certainly the electric eel is an amazing animal. I don't particularly care for waterborne meat sources though 😋 something about the texture...

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

LOL. Then there's a ton of Chinese dishes you'd likely not enjoy.

Smoked eel is OK but not a favorite. Too bony for me.

originally posted by: BO XIAN
www.mnn.com...
. . . video of one shocking the daylights out of a caiman

www.youtube.com...

That last video of the eel lighting up the gator head is rather incredible

youtu.be...



electric eel shocking a human
www.youtube.com...

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: BO XIAN

I've always had a strange curiosity about electric eels. If you aren't grounded can they still shock you?

how would you not be grounded? you got wings you can float in mid air?

think of them like a battery, they have a positive end at their head negative at their rear they shock you from their head and the electricity does what it can to find its way to the eels tail end which if the eels head is touching you means it passes through you first.

originally posted by: pryingopen3rdeye

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: BO XIAN

I've always had a strange curiosity about electric eels. If you aren't grounded can they still shock you?

how would you not be grounded? you got wings you can float in mid air?

think of them like a battery, they have a positive end at their head negative at their rear they shock you from their head and the electricity does what it can to find its way to the eels tail end which if the eels head is touching you means it passes through you first.

stand on a milk crate and hold an electric eel?

a reply to: pryingopen3rdeye

Thanks for your great posts with the fine videos.

Very interesting.

Yeah, I had a hard time figuring out how someone would avoid being grounded SUFFICIENTLY . . . given all the givens.

a reply to: Vector99

The milk crates I know about were/are metal.

I don't think that would help in the insulating-from-electricty-grounding issue.

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These were interesting thank you