Electric Eels!

Electric Eels. Written by Rachel Rice. Focus question. What is an electric eel?

电鳗 瑞秋·赖斯 著 思考问题 什么是电鳗？

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.

大名鼎鼎的发电者——德国博物学家亚历山大·洪堡，1800年前往委内瑞拉捕捉电鳗。 他知道活电鳗能帮他解开不少和电有关的谜团。 他知道不能徒手触碰电鳗。 电鳗的电击会带来剧烈的疼痛。 他询问渔民们能不能提供帮助。

Humboldt watched as the fisherman led about 30 horses into a shallow pond. He described how the snake -like eels rose up to deliver hundreds of shocks to the horses. After the eels became tired and stopped shocking, the fisherman caught five of them. Humboldt learned much about the eels.

洪堡看着渔民赶了大约30匹马走进一处浅池塘。 他记录下，这些蛇一样的电鳗浮上水面，对马匹放出了数百次电击。 等电鳗疲惫不堪、停止放电后，渔民抓住了五条电鳗。 洪堡也因此了解了很多电鳗的知识。

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 to 10 feet. They can weigh as much as 20 to 22 kilograms, 44 to 48 pounds. 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.

电鳗是一种鱼。 电鳗身子修长，整体是灰棕色，喉部是黄色或橙色的。 这种圆柱形的鱼，比起其他鳗鱼，其实更接近鲶鱼。 它们属于刀鱼（裸背鱼），这类鱼都多多少少能发电。 电鳗最长可以长到2-3米，也就是7-10英尺。 它们的体重最高可达20-22千克，也就是44-48磅。 整体来看，它们的腰围和普通成年人的大腿差不多，长度却是大腿的四倍。 雄性和雌性电鳗的颜色、体型都相差不大。

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.

和大多数鱼不同，电鳗用嘴呼吸空气。 它们也长有鳃。 不过它们的鳃大多只用来排出废气。 电鳗会把嘴露出水面，通过嘴里的特殊器官吸入空气。 排出的废气会经过嘴和鳃流出体外。 电鳗每隔几分钟就要呼吸一次空气，一直困在水下会溺水哦。

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.

和大多数鱼一样，电鳗也有鱼鳍和脊椎。 它们头部两侧各有一块小鱼鳍，腹部还有一条从头延伸到尾的长鱼鳍。 脊椎和鱼鳍帮它们活动身体。 电鳗摆动腹部长鳍、呈S形游动，速度非常慢。 它们只有发起攻击的时候才会快速移动。