{"id":16363,"date":"2017-08-04T13:03:53","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T11:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akwarium.gdynia.pl\/?p=16363"},"modified":"2023-05-12T21:01:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T19:01:51","slug":"electric-eel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akwarium.gdynia.pl\/en\/electric-eel\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric eel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Electrophorus electricus<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order: <\/strong>Gymnotiformes | Family<\/strong>: Gymnotidae<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This fish is commonly known as the electric eel<\/strong>. The name comes from the characteristic body shape that resembles an eel, but this fish is actually more closely related to the families Cyprindae <\/strong>and Siluriformes<\/strong>. These fish can be found in the waters of the Amazon River <\/strong>and the Orinoco River<\/strong>. They live in muddy currents enriched in salts and minerals that conduct electricity really well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have a positive charge near their head and a negative one close to their tail end. They produce an electric charge at the front of their body that comes back through the water to the tail. This creates a closed circuit that has the shape of an electric cloud which paralyzes or kills everything around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are electrolytes on the body of this fish, which receive electric stimuli from their surroundings. This is called electroreception<\/strong>. With the use of their special Hunter and Sachs organs<\/strong>, they send two types of electric discharges. Sachs\u2019 organ<\/strong> is used as radar for electrolocation<\/strong>. The lower voltage of this organ helps them move through the muddy waters, which is especially useful because they lose their sight with age. Sachs\u2019 organ<\/strong> is also used for sensing potential prey and partially blinding it, if the prey is small. This organ also plays a major role in finding a partner. When attacking larger prey, the eel activates Hunter\u2019s organ<\/strong>, which produces a stronger discharge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fish can regulate the strength of discharges according to its needs and the size of the prey. The strongest discharge ever captured was in a zoo in the United States and measured 600 V<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Electrophorus electricus Order: Gymnotiformes | Family: Gymnotidae This fish is commonly known as the electric eel. The name comes from …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,440],"tags":[746],"class_list":["post-16363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animals","category-fish","tag-electric-eel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t