Check out @MinutoDaTerra and join our Patreon community at https://patreon.com/minuteearth. (Links to other language channels down in the description)

Electric eels can emit some of the largest shocks in the animal kingdom - but why don't they shock themselves?

LEARN MORE

---

To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:

• Electrocyte: a modified muscle or nerve cell that generates electricity in the electric organ of certain fishes

SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH

---

If you like what we do, you can help us!:

• Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
• Our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
• Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books
• Share this video with your friends and family
• Leave us a comment (we read them!)

CREDITS

---

Leonardo Souza | Script Writer and Narrator Kate Yoshida | Script Editor David Goldenberg | Director Lizah van der Aart | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music

MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info

OUR STAFF

---

Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida

OUR LINKS

---

Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176

MinuteEarth (and MinutePhysics) in other Languages:

Portuguese https://www.youtube.com/@MinutoDaTerra https://www.youtube.com/@MinutoDaFisica Spanish https://www.youtube.com/@MinutoDeLaTierra https://www.youtube.com/@minutodefisica Catalán https://www.youtube.com/@MinutdelaTerra French https://www.youtube.com/@MinuteDePhysique https://www.youtube.com/@MinutePourLaTerre Chinese https://www.youtube.com/@MinutePhysicsCN https://www.youtube.com/@MinuteEarthCN Russian https://www.youtube.com/@MinutePhysicsRU Georgian https://www.youtube.com/@MinuteGeorgian Polish https://www.youtube.com/@minuta.z.ziemia German https://www.youtube.com/@paarMinutenErde Arabic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_6luMR5xA4lRBA2mq53JEQ Tamil https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIrFGdwp_FzEkF7uHEjSShw Turkish https://www.youtube.com/@DakikaFizik

REFERENCES

---

Raimundo Nonato Gomes Mendes Júnior (2023). Analista Ambiental, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade. Personal Communication

Babineau D, Longtin A, & Lewis JE (2006). Modeling the electric field of weakly electric fish. Journal of Experimental Biology 209: 3636–3651. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02403

Bauer, R (1979). Electric organ discharge (EOD) and prey capture behaviour in the electric eel, Electrophorus electricus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 4: 311–319.

Bennett, MVL(1971).Electric organs. In Fish Physiology, W.S. Hoar, and D.J. Randall,eds. (AcademicPress),pp.347–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00303239

Catania K (2014). The shocking predatory strike of the electric eel. Science 346, 1231–1234 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260807

Catania, KC (2015). Electric Eels Concentrate Their Electric Field to Induce Involuntary Fatigue in Struggling Prey. Current Biology, 25(22), 2889–2898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.036

Catania, K.C. (2015). An optimized biological TASER: electric eels remotely induce or arrest movement in nearby prey. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 86: 38–47. https://doi.org/10.1159/000435945

de Santana, C et al. (2019). Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator. Nature Communications, 10(1), 4000–. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11690-z

Markham MR (2013). Electrocyte physiology: 50 years later. Journal of Experimental Biology, 216(13), 2451–2458. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.082628