Natural History Wanderings

The New York Times wrote about research discovering how Electric Eel’s use their electrical ability to hunt and stun prey

Their shocks stun prey very similar to a Taser

electric eels manipulate the nerves that run from a fish’s spinal cord to its muscles. They set off precise spikes of voltage that travel down the nerves, causing the muscles to contract all at once. The pulses are spaced at just the right frequency to cause the fish to quickly become immobilized.

Eels also use doublets(two quick pulses in a row) to help find prey

doublets cause fish to contract all their muscles in a huge twitch. Using a biological form of remote control, electric eels can force their victims to flail, producing waves that the eels can detect with motion-sensitive hairs in their skin.

Read article at  The Surprising Power of an Electric Eel’s Shock – NYTimes.com.