ELECTRIC EEL

INTRODUCTION:
Electric eels are freshwater predators that can generate and use
electricity for various purposes. They have electric organs with
thousands of cells called electrocytes that store power like tiny
batteries. They use electricity to stun prey, keep predators at bay.
navigate, communicate, and find mate. They are nocturnal, live in
muddy, dark waters, and have poor eyesight. They can grow to lengths
exceeding eight feet and weights of more than 44 pounds. The average
lifespan of electric eels in the wild is still unknown. In human care,
males typically live 10 to 15 years, and females generally live 12 to 22
years

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

The electric eel has a slender, snake-like body and flattened head. Its
thick, scaleless skin is generally dark gray to brown, and its underside is
a yellow-orange color.

Similar to other eel shaped fish, the electric eel lacks pelvic fins. It has a
small, or reduced, caudal fin and also lacks dorsal fins. Instead, an
elongated anal fin helps it maneuver through the water, where it can
swim forward, backward or hover, as it searches for prey.

Two specialized electric organs-the main electrical organ, the Hunter's

organ and the Sachs' organ-make up about 80 percent of this fish's
body. Its remaining vital organs are tightly packed within the anterior,
or front, part of its body
The electric organs create strong and weak electric charges, which are
utilized for defense, hunting, communication and navigation Stronger
electric charges can be energetically exhausting for this fish. Its
strongest electric pulses are produced by the main electrical organ, as
well as two-thirds of the Hunter's organ. The remainder of the Hunter's
organ and the Sachs' organ produce the weaker electric discharges

Long, cylindrical, scaleless, and usually gray-brown (sometimes with a

red underside), electric eels can grow to 2.75 metres (9 feet) and weigh
22 kg (48.5 pounds). The tail region constitutes about four-fifths of an
electric eel’s total length, which is bordered along the underside by an
undulating anal fin that is used to propel the fish. Despite its name, it is
not a true eel but is related to the characin fishes, which include
piranhas and neon tetras.

Electric eels are sluggish creatures that prefer slow-moving fresh water,
where they surface every few minutes to gulp air. Their mouth is rich
with blood vessels that allow use of the mouth as a lung. The vestigial
gills are used only to eliminate carbon dioxide, not for oxygen uptake.
Electric eels are among the principal aquatic predators of the white-
water flooded forest known as varzea. In one fish survey of a typical
varzea, electric eels made up more than 70 percent of the fish biomass.
Electric eels also eat fruit that falls from trees whose canopies hang
over rivers. Consequently, they aid in seed dispersal via defecation.

NATIVE HABITAT

This species is widely distributed across northern South America. Its

range spans across Brazil, the Guianas, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru. Electric eels inhabit the quiet, slow-moving waters of
ox-bow lakes, streams, pools and flooded forests of the Amazon and
Orinoco Rivers, preferring side channels but also living further inland.

Both of the rivers these fish inhabit are subject to a natural fluctuation
of water driven by precipitation patterns, which results in two distinct
seasons: wet and dry. The two seasons bring about drastic changes in
available habitat for electric eels.

During the rainy season, the rivers swell, re-connecting lakes and ponds
as the forests flood. Juvenile electric eels disperse and expand into new
territories. As water recedes in the dry season, large groups of fish
become isolated in the pools and smaller streams that remain.

The water in these areas is poorly oxygenated, but electric eels are
specially adapted to thrive in this environment. They are obligate air-
breathers, which means they surface for air periodically. Their mouths
are heavily vascularized with folds that increase the surface area,
allowing them to breathe air, rather than trying to meet their
respiration needs through gills in warm, anoxic waters.
Throughout the dry season, the electric eel is also at greater risk from
predators, such as large mammals, that hunt from outside the shallow
waters it inhabits. Because there is little space to retreat, the fish is
often forced to defend itself.

Species

There are three described species in the genus, not differing

significantly in body shape or coloration:

1 Electrophorus electricus: It has a U-shaped head, with a flattened

skull and cleithrum.

2. Electrophorus voltai: This species is the strongest bioelectricity

generator in nature, capable of generating 860 V. Like E. electricus, this
species has a flattened skull and cleithrum but the head is more egg-
shaped.

3. Electrophorus varii: Compared to the other two species, this one has
a thicker skull and cleithrum but the head shape is more variable.

PREY CAPTURE AND ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE

Electric eels have two electric organs-the main organ, Hunter's organ,
and Sach's organ-which are made up of modified muscle cells. The main
electric organ is located on the dorsal side; it spans the middle half of
the body from just behind the head to the middle of the tail. Hunter's
organ parallels the main organ but on the ventral side. Those organs
generate the high-voltage pulses that stun prey and deter predators.
The rear quarter of the electric eel contains Sach's organ, which
produces lower-voltage pulses that allow the electric eel to
communicate and navigate murky waters. Sach's organ also contains
the electric eel's negative pole.

An electric eel can deliver a shock because its nervous system contains
a number of disc-shaped electrogenic cells called electrocytes. Each
electrocyte carries a net negative electric charge.

The electric eel's penchant for

shocking its prey may have
evolved to protect its sensitive
mouth from injury from often
spiny struggling fish. The
shocked prey is stunned long enough to be sucked through the mouth
directly to the stomach. Sometimes the electric eel does not bother to
stun prey but simply gulps faster than the prey can react. The electrical
discharges also may be used to keep prey from escaping or to induce a
twitching response in hidden prey that causes the prey to to reveal its
position. Such prey-capture tactics are commonly employed by single
eels; however, at least one species also engages in social predation
(pack hunting). Volta’s electric eels (E. voltai) coordinate their
movements and the timing and strength of their electrical discharges to
ambush or corral schools of fish before stunning and capturing
individual prey.
Electric eels have been shown to curl their bodies around larger or
more elusive prey. That strategy has the effect of doubling the strength
of the electric field between the electric eel’s positive pole (which is
located near the head) and its negative pole (which is located near the
tail). The electric eel then delivers a series of shocks that occur at one-
millisecond intervals. Each shock forces involuntary muscle contractions
that fatigue the prey’s muscles, which allows the electric eel to better
manipulate it for consumption.

Electric eels may also use their ability to shock other animals to defend
themselves against predators and perceived threats. While an electric
eel is fully submerged, its electrical discharge is weaker because the
shock is distributed throughout the surrounding water. Stronger
shocks, however, may be delivered by leaping out of the water or by
extending the head up and out of the water to place the chin against a
partially submerged animal. The strength of the electric current
delivered in this fashion is not dampened by the watery medium. The
electric current enters the animal’s body directly before traveling
through the submerged parts of its body and back into the water to the
tail of the electric eel, thereby completing the electric circuit.
 S.HARINEE
XI D
ROLL NO 25

BIOLOGY
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
-ELECTRIC EEL
TABLE TO CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
3. NATIVE HABITAT
4. SPECIES
5. PREY CAPTURE AND ELECTRICAL
DISCHARGE
6. VIVA QUESTIONS
 VIVA QUESTIONS

i. What is the lifespan of a male and female electrical eel

ii. Name the electric organs of the eel
iii. Describe its Habitat
iv. How does the eel doubles the strength of its electric field
v. Name some species of electric eel
vi. When is the electrical discharge weaker
vii. Which is the season that projects more risk for their
survival
viii. Explain Hunter's organ
ix. List out the functions of Sach's organ
x. Explain exchange of gases in an electric eel