Electric eel and self-insulating ability

Electric eels discharge electricity to catch prey and avoid enemies, but this ability does not cause them to be injured while underwater.

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Self-insulating ability of electric eels

An electric eel. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Electric eels (also known as electric eels) live in the Amazon region, characterized by special agencies that discharge electricity . In addition, they also used weaker electrical impulses to determine the location of the prey , similar to locating the echoes of bats and dolphins.

An electric eel can be 2.4 meters long and weighs nearly 23 kilograms, much larger than their prey underwater. Therefore, the current with a voltage of up to 650 V is released, which may have less impact on the fish than the prey.

However, when not in the water environment, an electric eel may be more sensitive to its own power. Michigan State University researcher Jason Gallant has heard of cases where they show signs of convulsions when pulled up from the water. It is likely that their current will not easily disappear through the air, but instead move through the wet and shocking skin.

Gallant's team also found that many species of electric fish exhibit the same gene, which functions to encode structural proteins that can be insulated against a special organ of electricity.

However, according to Popsci, all this is just speculation. In fact, scientists have not really figured out the cause of electric eels that are not affected by the current itself.