Welcome to Wild Facts! If this is your first time stumbling upon our crazy little place to learn all about animal facts than please feel free to snoop around. As well you can leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you have any questions or would like some additional information about an animal. If you happen to be one of the regular readers than welcome back and thanks for all of your support so far. All of you reading this are in for a shocking post today. No I mean it will literally be electrifying since we are going to look at the always interesting Electric Eel. What can possibly be cooler than a fish that can give you a huge electrical shock? Well, I guess it would be pretty groovy if we had sharks with laser beams but let’s not get ridiculous (Bonus Wild Fact point if you caught the movie reference in that last line).
The first thing you need to know about the Electric Eel is they are not eels. Yes they have the same “snake-like” appearance as our eel friends but they are actually more closely related to other fish such as carp and catfish. As we all know the Electric Eel is able to produce an electric charge which they use to stun their prey or to defend against predators. Just how powerful is their electric charge? Good question and I had a hunch that you would ask this so I came prepared. The Electric Eel actually has about 6000 specialized cells, called electrocytes, which store power like little batteries. These cells are able to produce a charge of about 600 volts. For the record a standard plug-in is only about 120 volts (in North America) so the Electric Eel can generate 5 times the power of a plug-in. If you want to know what this feels like than stick a fork in the socket and multiply that by 5. I AM KIDDING! Where are you going? Geez, don’t actually stick a fork in the socket! Are you nuts? Luckily human deaths from an electric eel are very rare but repeatedly getting shocked could cause heart failure. As well, some people have drowned after being stunned by these shocking eel-like fish. I recommend you try not to get shocked by an Electric Eel but I will let you decide what you want to do.
Electric Eel Fast Fact – The Electric Eel has relatively poor eyesight but is capable of producing a low level electric charge that helps paint a picture of their surroundings. And we thought bats that used sonar were cool. Eat your heart out Little Brown Bat!
Thanks for stopping by Wild Facts and I look forward to seeing you around. Have a great day!
Thank you for the post Nathan!
Where can electric eels be found?
Thanks!
Hey Céline,
Electric eels are native to South America and can be found from Orinoco to the Amazon. That is good news for people swimming in the waters of Canada!
Thanks for the question!
Wow……an under-water green power station!
hahahaha! Maybe we should look into harvesting that power. Ooooh, Electric Eel powered cars! We can call them AutomobEELS!
Let me guess for the bonus Wild Fact point…….is it from the movie Austin Power????
Sorry Mom, you do NOT get a Bonus Wild Fact Point! In fact I am going to take one away from you since you cheated. I gave away the answer while talking to you on the phone so it doesn’t count. I guess I get my morals and ethics from dad!
Not quite cheating since you only said the key word was “Groovy” and I guessed Austin Powers and then you said the rest….I think it deserves 1/2 of point (yes you get your stubborness from me). LOL
True I didn’t tell you the exact movie but I gave you an unfair advantage. I think I will remove another Wild Fact Bonus Point since you questioned my decision to remove the first Wild Fact Bonus Point. Keep being stubborn and you will be owing me 3 Points. hahahahaha I feel like my childhood roles have been reversed here. So help me, I will turn this car around if you don’t start behaving!