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Both male and female ghost knifefish, native to South America, produce mild electrical pulses from an organ in their tails during mating. Some fish also woo mates with an electrifying display. (Learn about Earth’s freshwater creatures at risk of extinction.) The elephant-nose fish, native to West Africa, uses its electric tail to navigate murky waters. The electric catfish, found in Africa’s tropical freshwater environments, is capable of producing up to 350 volts to find food. Watch an eel shock a biologist in the name of science If the fish senses a predator approaching, it may even leap out of the water to deliver an unpleasant surprise. Such a defense mechanism comes in handy during the dry season, when water levels are low and large mammals are looking for food.
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“When a signal from the brain comes, these are discharged together and can act like millions of tiny batteries in series that form a massive jolt,” explains Parsons. The species uses three sensory organs located along the length of their bodies to issue shocks of up to 860 volts-enough energy to stun predator or prey.Įach of these three organs-called the main organ, the Hunter’s organ, and the Sach’s organ-are made up of disc-shaped cells called electrocytes that have a positive and negative end, like the two sides of a flashlight battery. That’s why the eight-foot-long animals-actually eel-shaped fish that belong to the knifefish family-are both electrogenic and electroreceptive. Murky watersįor many animals moving through cloudy freshwater environments, charged electrical currents are as important as color or sound are to humans.įor instance, the electric eel’s habitat-South America’s Amazon and Orinoco River Basins-contains high amounts of sediment from the ever-shifting landscape. However, there are many electroreceptive animals that are not electrogenic. Some animals that are electrogenic, such as electric eels and the elephant-nose fish, can also be electroreceptive, using a small fraction of their electric ability to detect other animals in their environment while hunting. So a sick fish thrashing in distress, for instance, would be quickly discovered by a shark. “They can sense muscle movement as it puts out electric fields, especially drastic movements,” says Parsons. (Read how sharks can navigate via Earth’s magnetic field.) Sharks are electroreceptive, seeking out prey using organs called the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which are concentrated around their heads. “This can tell them where obstacles or prey might be, or even their size,” explains George Parsons, director of animal planning and dive operations at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. When an electric field hits a living object, it creates a distortion that an electroreceptive animal can sense. Such species include electric eels, torpedo rays, and African freshwater catfish, all of which send out high-voltage shocks to incapacitate prey.Įlectroreceptive animals, on the other hand, can detect weak electrical fields generated by prey.
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“Electrogenic animals generate electricity and send it outside their bodies,” says Jack Cover, general curator of living exhibits at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland. electroreceptionĪnimals use electricity in two different ways: electrogenesis (generating electric pulses) and electroreception (detecting these pulses). Though less common, land animals such as the bumblebee, platypus, and echidna harness electricity to forage and communicate. Saltwater creatures, such as sharks, rays, and even one species of dolphin also rely on special sensory organs to hunt underwater. ( Read how electric eels hunt in the dark. In comparison, a shock from your household outlet its about 120 volts. Approximately 350 species of fish-including the notorious electric eel-possess anatomical structures that can generate up to a whopping 860 volts of power. Most of such creatures live in freshwater ecosystems, using electricity to compensate for their poor vision or inability to see in murky water. But some impressive animals have taken this power a step further, evolving the ability to communicate, defend themselves, and find food via electricity.
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Humans generate weak electrical fields whenever we move our muscles, for instance. An invisible force of nature, electricity is all around us.