Electrophorus, also known as electric eels, is a genus of Neotropical freshwater fish in the Gymnotidae family. They are recognized for their ability to use electricity to stun their prey.

An Electric eel is capable of producing an electric shock of up to 860 volts, enough to take down a horse, let alone humans.

To put that in perspective, that’s about eight times the voltage that’s in your household outlet.

Can an electric eel kill you?

Electric eel attacks on humans are relatively rare. Multiple shocks, on the other hand, can induce respiratory or cardiac collapse, and people have been known to drown in shallow water after receiving a powerful jolt.

What animal can kill an electric eel?

Electric eels have no known predators save humans who catch them. Regardless, they are too deadly for other species to pursue.

Large terrestrial mammals may pursue them if the water is shallow, although this threat is frequently averted with a shock.

A certain man by the name of Mike Vins decided to carry out an experiment on a three and a half foot Electric – eel. 5 Deadliest Animals in the Amazon

First Electric Eel shock

The electric eel was kept in a transparent pond, healthy and swimming comfortably when Mike Vins approached it and stuck his hand inside it.

The result was shocking, literally, and terrifying. Mike Vins was shocked under milliseconds, was very fast. He kept holding his hands due to the effect of the shock. A shock like that could definitely give one a cardiac arrest.

You would think he had learned his lesson never to mess with an Electric eel but No, he decided to up his game and take the experiment to a whole different level.

Mike Vins then approached an absolutely monstrous Electric eel to test a theory of which shock is more powerful.

And in case, you’re wondering, Yes, size does matter when it comes to shocks from an electric eel.

Electric eel voltage ac or dc?

At this point, it is important to know what happens in the body of an electric eel, allowing it to produce a tremendous amount of energy.

The body of eels has electrolytes that build up and then discharge all at once. It’s more like a chain reaction, very much like a battery.

And here’s a cool fact, the first battery was actually invented by a man named Volta, and he designed his first battery while experimenting on the Electric eel.

So without an Electric eel, there wouldn’t be batteries and certainly won’t be Tesla.

electric eel fact

As it turns out, An electric eel isn’t actually an eel at all, It is a species of night fish that are more closely related to carpet and catfish. But they are definitely electric.

Their tails contain three electric organs that are each packed with thousands of cells called electrocyte.

These cells act as a series of batteries, one stacked on top of another. And by moving electrons across their surface, they can produce shocks on demand. And I mean, big shocks and lots of them. 5 Animals that can defeat a Jaguar

Second Electric Eel shock

Now back to Mike Vin’s second experiment with an electric eel over 1 meter in length. Over a foot and a half longer than the first electric eel.

As I said earlier, size does matter, the bigger the eel, the bigger its battery, and hence the bigger the charge.

This time around the tank of the electric eel was connected to a tesla coil and visualized closely, so we can see what exactly happens.

It is important to note that, electric eels produce electricity unprovoked. This is because they have three electric organs.

The Sach’s organ pulses with a lower voltage shock, which is used as a radar for electrocommunication and navigation throughout its environment.

This is important since they live in the murky waters of South America and they have extremely poor eyesight.

Then there are the main and hunter’s organs. These are the ones that produce those infamous high voltage shocks which are used to stun their prey so they can be swallowed alive.

Are electric eels dangerous

Yes, electric eels are dangerous and deadly.

So now back to the experiment, Mike Vins dips his hands into the water tank of a really big electric eel and got shocked instantly.

Mike Vins shouts, and groans in pain, holding his hands intensely and walking about for a while shouting and lamenting.

It felt like he had a slightly mild cardiac arrest, the wave of shock kept grossing through his body for a while. Bizarre types of fish in the ocean

So what have you learned today so far?

Don’t mess with an electric eel, They have no natural predators in the wild save man. Their bodies generate shocks on-demand even without being threatened.

So what do you think stands a better chance of defeating an electric eel besides Humans.