How Electric Eels Shock Their Prey!

Ever seen an eel zap its prey and wondered… how do they do that?
In murky South American rivers, electric eels can stun prey from a distance—without even touching it. Some can grow over 8 feet long.

Ken Catania:
“The reason their body is so long…is to house this really long set of electric organs.”
Those organs are made of specialized cells called electrocytes.

Ken Catania:
“…they're essentially a series of batteries lined up, one after another in series…Those add together to give 600 volts ultimately for a large electric eel.”
600 volts—that’s about five times a wall outlet!
But how does that become an actual shock?
When the eel senses its prey, thousands of electrocytes activate at once. Because they’re aligned, their voltages add together—making the head positive and the tail negative, creating an electric field that shocks nearby prey.

Ken Catania:
“The eel can remotely activate the prey’s muscles through the nerves to temporarily paralyze it. That is the same as a taser.”
The prey’s muscles lock up—making it an easy target for the eel.
Credits:
B-Roll and Interview filmed at Ken Catania's Lab at Vanderbilt University in 2016.
Filmed by Jeff Nash

Видео How Electric Eels Shock Their Prey! канала Emily Driscoll