Electric Eel

• It can generate electric discharges of up to 650 volts through some 6,000 cells called electrocytes.
• It uses its electric discharges both to hunt and to navigate murky water where it can barely see.
• The male builds and guards a nest of saliva where as many as 3,000 young develop.
• fisiologíaIt can generate discharges of up to 860 volts, and is in fact more closely related to catfish than to true eels.
• defensaIt can lunge partly out of the water to deliver its charge directly onto a target above the surface, making the shock more effective.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - bony skeleton (fish), not closely related to true eels

Habitat and environment

Muddy bottoms of rivers, swamps and floodplains of the Amazon and Orinoco basins

Birth weight

A tiny fry on hatching inside a nest built from the male's saliva

Gestation / incubation

The egg develops inside a saliva nest built and guarded by the male

Litter / clutch size

Up to 3,000 young per nest

Sources consulted: National Geographic Kids; FishBase; Animal Diversity Web; AnimalHub; Animalia.bio; National Geographic

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.