The Insane Biology of: The Electric Eel

Credits:
Narrator/Writer: Stephanie Sammann
Editor: David O'Sullivan

Imagery courtesy of Getty Images

References:

[RealEngineering]

The insane biology series is so much cooler than the insane engineering series

[RandomGuy]

People: how is it possible for a fish to generate so much electricity?
The fish: the dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... Unnatural

[lazergurka-smerlin]

"860 volts"
Ah that's a lot yeah
"At one amp"
HOLY JESUS

[bustavonnutz]

I remember learning about them & asking that question to my teacher about whether or not they shock themselves or have some sort of resistance. The fact that they mostly just tank the shots is pretty incredible.

[_..---]

This is one of the best channels on youtube for sure. What an in-depth video on electric eels, it's fascinating what complex creatures they are. I mean remotely controlling their prey is just next level stuff. imagine what else is out there

[piprz]

I was lucky enough to teach in Ecuador for a time. I traveled to the Yasuní reserve in the Amazon, and we went fishing with the waorani. They caught an eel and we were amazed by it. A couple hours after fishing it, these two mischievous kids poked a machete in the eel's gills and asked me to touch the machete. eel was laying still in the ground after some time, so i felt confident: boy did that thing struck me. i felt it so strong my whole arm went to sleep for a couple of hours. 😂 these two kids could not stop laughing for a couple of days

[tetravega]

Here's a fun list of REAL elemental animals:
Electric:
Electric Eel
Oriental Hornet (It's stripes are Solar panels that generate electricity)
Ballooning Spiders (use their threads to fly on electric currents in the air)
Echidna (sense not emit. This is Knuckles' Emerald radar in Sonic Adventure 2)
Electric Stingray
Electric Catfish
Sharks (Sense not emit, Ampullae of Lorenzini pores around snout.)
Plant Pollen (Has static charge, that's how it sticks to Bees)

Fire:
Black Kite (carry burning twigs around to spread fire)
Whistling Kite (carry burning twigs around to spread fire)
Brown Falcon (carry burning twigs around to spread fire)

Heat:
Bombadier Beetle (shoots boiling acid)
Japanese Honeybee (swarms enemy and generates body heat to cook)
Pistol Shrimp (can do real Kamehameha/Hadoken)
Mantis Shrimp (can do real Kamehameha/Hadoken)

Water:
Archerfish (Spit water at prey outside the water, can compensate aim for light bent by water surface)
Walrus (Gush water at the seafloor to hunt)
Whales
Dolphins
Octopus/Squid

Ice:
Pseudomonas Syringae (Creates ice, can freeze water above 0C)

Metal:
Scaly-foot Snail (Iron shell)
Eucalyptus trees (absorb Gold into their cellular structure)
Various plants (absorb metals into their cellular structure)

Light:
Fireflies
Angler Fish
Flashlight Fish
Bioluminescent Plants
Bioluminescent Fungi
Bioluminescent Bacteria/microbes
Octopus/Squid (Some use their chameleon skin to make light)
Tons of deep ocean creatures communicate by producing light

Dark or Ghost:
Assassin bugs (wear corpses as disguises)
Cordycep (parasitic Zombie fungus)
Parasitic Worm (snail eyestalk zombie infection)
Toxoplasma Gondii (reduces host's fear of danger/risks)

Poison:
Maned Rat/African Crested Rat (Lophiomys imhausi) (Rubs poison from plants into specialized stripes of hairs)
Hooded Pitohui
Ifrita
Rufous Shriketrush
African Spur Winged Goose
European Quail
Hoopoes
Ruffed Grouse
Bronzewing Pidgeon
Red Warbler
Various Reptiles
Various Amphibians
Various Fish, and Aquatic Animals
Various Arthropods (Insects, Arachnids, Crustaceans)
Various Plants
Various Fungi

[earthling_parth]

Wow, I never knew that Voltaic cell was inspired by electric eels! Fascinated to learn that.

[drishtantsen]

I absolutely adore this series of insane biology,
The long videos and high quality content,
Keep it coming!

[filipmazic]

Every time I learn about stuff like this I'm so stunned (get it?) with how diverse life on earth is, how complicated it evolved to be. It feels like we live alongside aliens.

[weidergonga]

As kids, we were so afraid of the poraquê (eletric eel) we thought that even casting our shadow on the fish could shock us. I was really scary

[patrickblanchette]

I actually had a professor back in college that had travelled down to the Amazon to study these creatures.

[embreis]

11:58 eel: 'hah, I stun my prey remotely with electric bolts. resistance to superior technology is futile.' fish: 'we see you and retreat to our safe room - the air!' eel: 'ever heard of teamwork?'

[WilliamTheDestroyer.]

I had an adult for years, and was zapped a few times. I donated it and it's aquarium to my local university.

[chaoticdusk]

It's interesting how electric eels actually work together to get food. It's an excellent strategy that they've come up with.

[GeoffryGifari]

860 volts at 1 amp? i have no idea they're *that* powerful

[townazier]

It's shocking, how your videos are so consistently amazing! I would say this is the best series of videos, I know of on youtube. There's the whole rest of the channel however, that's just as good.

[chrisbekker]

When I was young, I remember, I always wanted to know how they generate electricity. And no one could tell me, or knew how. Until now. Mother nature is so interesting and amazing! Wow

[vargero]

Egyptians had electric eels as well, they have their graven images on their walls.

[prithviraj]

She mentioned in the video 'electric eels do get electric shocks by other eels it's like doing their business and because of their large size they can withstand shocks they produce'. Now the question is how they can withstand such 8600 volts of electricity when all eels all together produces it for mas hunting. We humans can too withstand one eels' electric shock but cannot 10 eels.