Electric Eels!

Electric Eels!

Legendary Shocker German naturalist Alexander Humboldt went to Venezuela to catch electric eels in 1800. He knew living electric eels could help him solve some mysteries about electricity. He knew not to touch the eels with his bare hands. Their shocks could cause great pain. He asked some fishermen if they could help.

Humboldt watched as the fishermen led about thirty horses into a shallow pond. He described how the snakelike eels rose up to deliver hundreds of shocks to the horses. After the eels became tired and stopped shocking, the fishermen caught five of them. Humboldt learned much about the eels.

It's a Fish! Electric eels are long gray-brown fish with yellow or orange on their throats. These cylinder-shaped fish are more like catfish than other eels. The group they belong to is called knifefish, which all have some ability to use electricity. Electric eels can grow as long as 2 to 3 meters (7-10 ft. ). They can weigh as much as 20 to 22 kilograms (44-48 lb. ). Altogether, they can be about as big around as an average adult human's thigh and four times as long. Male and female electric eels are alike in color and size.

Unlike most other fish, electric eels breathe air through their mouths. They have gills. However, they mostly use their gills to help them breathe out. Electric eels open their mouths above the water to breathe air in through special organs in their mouths. The waste air that they breathe out goes through their mouths and gills. Electric eels need air every few minutes and can drown if they get trapped underwater.

Like most other fish, electric eels have fins and a backbone. They have small fins on either side of their heads and a long fin on their bellies from head to tail. Their backbones and fins help them move. Electric eels wave their belly fins in an S-shape to swim, which they do quite slowly. They move quickly only when they attack.