There are a number of different kinds of electric fish living in the various rivers and oceans of the world. They can generate electricity up to several hundred volts. The most powerful electric fish are the electric catfish and the electric eel. The electric eel lives in South America. Its special organs can generate a very powerful electric current, which is enough to light twelve light bulbs. The eel uses this electric charge to kill its prey – mainly fish and frogs – and to keep its enemies away. The electric eel manufactures the electric current in its tail, where thousands of cells are linked together and form a kind of ‘charging’ machine. The electric shock from the eel lasts only a fraction of a second.
Electric eels can sometimes be nearly two meters long. As they move through the water, they send out weak electrical charges and these create an electric field around them. These charges help them to locate their prey when some other sea animals enter the electrical field and cause a change in the current impulses.