How Do Eels Make Electricity?

Electric eels are some of the most feared creatures because of their shock, but how does their electric shock work and how much damage does it do?


Read More:
Electric eels use high-voltage to track fast-moving prey
“Electric eels are legendary for their ability to incapacitate fish, humans, and horses with hundreds of volts of electricity. The function of this output as a weapon has been obvious for centuries but its potential role for electroreception has been overlooked.”

Electric Eels Concentrate Their Electric Field to Induce Involuntary Fatigue in Struggling Prey
“In a typical attack, eel discharges cause brief, immobilizing tetanus, allowing eels to swallow small prey almost immediately. Here I show that when eels struggle with large prey or fish held precariously, they commonly curl to bring their own tail to the opposite side of prey, sandwiching it between the two poles of their powerful electric organ.”
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[oldsoul]

I used to lick batteries when I was little, so now I'm now immune to electric eels.

[tenebrisscarrow]

But could we genetically engineer muscle cell electrolytes into humans to give us electric powers? Because charging your phone with your finger would be epic.

[RaulKolk]

All these puns get my eel of approval.

[qqq]

I've always been interested in electric eels, they seem so different. I can understand animals that use sound, produce chemicals, or do various other weird body things but actually generating electricity seems mythical. I know every creature actually produces some electricity but in extremely small amounts and we certainly can't control or use it.

[TheTyrori]

so that means some poor bastards have both ran into an electric fence and also have been shocked by an eel? That seems STATICstically unlikely...

[giornogiovanna]

I wish there was a video of someone else explaining this

[ppaxlu]

Is it just me or does she have a really, really long neck.

[road_king_dude]

I liked that MGMT song about Electric Eels

[therandomthings]

So in 1770s humans discovered the electricity, not invented. It’s already there in the nature with these fishes.

[fundudeplaz]

doing this for my school research project

[shreyasphanipendyala]

Now I know how electric-type Pokemon work.
They basically have electrolytes (for Pikachu, they're in the red spots on its cheeks), which open the circuit of the sodium and potassium ions, making them generate a flow of electricity.
I'm shocked to make this discovery ⚡️

[NateCrownwell]

Are fabric softeners bad and/or harmful to use?

[skyfrostthunderrock]

that was neat.. though i'm more of a visual learner.. wish there some animations or pictures or diagrams to help gather all that info. thanks for sharing!

[LutherusPXCs]

How the hell did electric eels evolve?

[TampaTec]

my bio electric car 🚘 runs on electric eels. 😉

[Alexjames]

It's amazing how eels have the ability to harness something for external uses that most other similar species can only use to operate themselves.. it makes me wonder as to what part of the environment had caused them to eventually become that way

and let me tell ya, they are some voracious fish head eaters

[NeThZOR]

I now feel more current about information about eels (pun intended)

[demitriastevara]

I was expecting an animation of how it really works

[HeatherDaisyMay]

I was going to ask, if you could do a video on why, some pregnant women get unusual cravings? I was watching a documentary on a woman whom, when pregnant chewed elastic bands? I was just wondering if you could do a video with some in depth research, as to why this happens? (I'm a training nurse) so it would be interesting to know the causes.

[LorienWicck]

Electric eels are the second most stunning out of everything in this video.