How do fish make electricity? - Eleanor Nelsen
TED-Ed・4 minutes read
Fish species, such as electric eels, use electricity for various purposes like defense, communication, and hunting, with some generating up to 600 volts to hunt prey. These fish have specialized structures for producing electrical signals, with weakly electric fish using electroreceptors to sense electrical fields and the mystery of how they avoid electrocuting themselves remaining unsolved.
Insights
- Fish species utilize electricity for various purposes, from communication to hunting, with weakly electric fish producing lower voltages for sensing electrical fields, and strongly electric fish like the electric eel discharging high voltages to capture prey.
- The safety mechanisms that prevent strongly electric fish, such as the electric eel, from electrocuting themselves while discharging high voltages to hunt remain a mystery, highlighting the complexity and intrigue surrounding these underwater creatures.
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Recent questions
How do electric eels use electricity?
To defend, communicate, navigate, and stun prey.
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Summary
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Electric Fish: Communication, Navigation, and Predation
- In 1800, Alexander von Humboldt observed electric eels using electricity to defend against horses, a common behavior among fish to communicate, navigate, and stun prey underwater.
- Nearly 350 fish species have specialized structures generating electrical signals, divided into weakly electric fish producing up to a volt of electricity and strongly electric fish like the electric eel, which can discharge up to 600 volts to hunt prey.
- Weakly electric fish like the Peter’s elephantnose fish use electroreceptors to sense electrical fields, while strongly electric fish like the electric eel employ high-voltage discharges to immobilize and consume prey, with the mystery of how they avoid electrocuting themselves still unsolved.
