Acne electric - the inhabitants of the turbid waters of the Amazon

Electric eel (photo it can be seen inthis article) belongs to the class Bony fishes from the family Electric acne. It dwells in the middle and lower tributaries of the Amazon and in small rivers of the northeast of South America. It is a large fish, its average length is from 1 to 1.5 m, but there are also three-meter individuals weighing up to 40 kg.

Acne electric is flaky, nakedsnake-like body, which is covered with a thin layer of mucus and in the back part somewhat compressed laterally. Color can be called camouflage. In young individuals it is homogeneous, olive brown, and adults have a bright orange color on the underside of the head and on the throat. Eyes small, in the mouth there is one row of small teeth. Abdominal and dorsal fins absent, thoracic very small, well developed only anal fin. It is with his help that the eel flies beautifully in all directions. The fish place is the bottom of the river, where it prefers to hide among algae. There you have to catch the eel.

Usually in the places of its habitat the waters are turbid,Slowly flowing with minimal oxygen content. Therefore, these fish in the mouth have special zones from the vascular tissue, which allows them to absorb oxygen from the atmospheric air. In other words, electric acne is forced from time to time for a few minutes to rise to the surface of the water to get a fresh air.

Why are they called electrical? The fact is that this species is able to generate discharges of electricity. Typically, one such discharge is 350 V, but especially large individuals are capable of producing a voltage of up to 650 V, which is dangerous even for humans. How does this happen? Acne electric has a special organ that takes up most of their body and consists of special cells. They are connected to each other in a sequential order by branches of nerves. Plus is located in front of the body, and in the back - minus. Weak electric charges are created at the beginning of the body, and by the end of their journey they are summed up, and their power increases several times. This fish is also called a live battery.

The discharge of a large specimen is able to stunsolid enemy. Although it is worth noting that electric acne is mainly fed by small fry. So why do they need such power? It must be said that this species remains poorly studied to date, for example, it is still unknown how they reproduce. And such ranks, most likely, are necessary for self-defense, in fact for hunting they use no more than 300 V. Having deafened or having killed thus fish, eels come down behind it on a bottom and swallow it there entirely.

In addition to the described electrical organs, thisThere is one more type of acne, which acts as a locator. With its help, fish emit locational low-frequency discharges. They return from the obstacles ahead and possible mining and, thus, acne gets the information they need. They attack without warning and even in case of danger they do not try to hide. Therefore, if on your way there was such an eel, it is better to give way first to him, especially a large individual. Perhaps its electrical discharge will not kill you, but you can completely lose consciousness from it. So it is wiser to retreat to a safe distance.