860 volts… Highest voltage electric eel found

Electricity from electric eel is dangerous to humans as well. Until now, the maximum voltage of electric eel was known to be 650 volts, but a new study has identified electric eel capable of discharging up to 860 volts, exceeding that.

As a result of analyzing 107 species of eels sent from the Brazilian Amazon, Suriname, French Guiana and Guyana, the Sao Paulo Research Foundation and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History research team reclassified two new electric eels (E.varii and E.voltai). The electric eel discharge voltage was used for the first time as a standard for this classification.

As a result of recording the actual discharge of eels, it is said that there was a maximum discharge of 860 volts. Discharge by animals so far has been up to 650 volts. The research team also found that the voltage of the eel is related to the habitat. E.voltai lives in oxygen-rich water with high transparency in the highlands, but this water has low conductivity due to its low salt content. Because of this, the eel needs a higher voltage to attack the enemy.

These two species are giant species that grow up to 2.4m, but this was the first time they were discovered in the Amazon. The research team says that 250 years after scientific inquiry, they discovered a new type of fish with a length of 2.4 m, so we can imagine how many undiscovered creatures exist. It is well known that electric eels have been inhabiting the Amazon basin for the past 250 years, but how many species and exist is a mystery. For a long time, scientists thought it was the same species as the local eel, but the results of the analysis of genetic material, skull shape, and voltage in the survey found that eel actually belong to three different species.

The research team believes that the three species evolved from the same ancestor who lived 7.1 million years ago. This discovery will help in the ecological innovation of electric eel, and this new discovery is expected to be used in technology and medical fields. In addition, the importance of protecting the Amazon inhabited by eels is also being emphasized. The discovery of a new electric eel in the Amazon means that there are still many unknown species in nature. This area is also attracting attention in other scientific fields, such as medicine and biotechnology, and needs to be protected. Related information can be found here .