#Electric eels

[bonkalore]

On a random note: Do people know that electric "eels" aren't eels at all and are actually knifefish that are only freshwater? They're closer related catfish than eels and none of them live in the ocean. Also they breathe... air... Wild shit, I know.

Idk, designing merpeople and such, I notice more how people draw a lot of freshwater fish for designs when most of them are still in saltwater and obviously it's all fantasy, but something I think about with biology.

The electric eel thing tho, seems like NOBODY fucking knows that bc it's such a common trope in cartoons and media that they are in the ocean too and used bc ELECTRICITY!!

They're the only ones that have electricity as a weapon, but most will use it for electrolocation and such.

[sleepyfins]

Electric Eels have the energy to power 10 lightbulbs in one zap! They also aren't actually eels, being more related to knifefish. Maybe their name was just too scary.

[mindblowingscience]

Electric eels can discharge a staggering 860 volts of energy into their surroundings – over seven times that of a standard US power outlet. That's more than enough voltage to punch holes in cell membranes, allowing large polar molecules like DNA to sneak inside. "Electric eels and other organisms that generate electricity could affect genetic modification in nature," says Nagoya University molecular biologist Atsuo Iida, who tested this theory with other researchers in Japan.

Continue Reading.

[taxonomytournament]

Taxonomy Tournament: Fish

Gymnotiformes. This order is known as Neotropical knifefish, which have an elongated body and anal fin, and are capable of producing electric fields which they use to detect prey. Members include the electric eel and glass knifefish

Siluriformes. This order is made up of catfish, which have prominent barbels (sensory organs near the mouth) that resemble a cats whiskers.

[veiwryn]

Courtney, Gwen, and Noah need "I survived electric eels" shirts, I think they would been a neat trio.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #419

Electric eel!

They have three different electricity-generating organs that they can use to generate low voltages to survey surroundings, or high voltages to detect and stun prey! They can even control their prey’s movements through electrical impulses, forcing them to stay still or jolt away from their hiding spots!

[thousurroundingverdure]

[redlionknc]

Ooh, girl

[byrd-bb]

ELECTRIC EEL is on my shop now!! Only one more design in the series to go 👀

Reblogs are greatly appreciated!!

[musickickztoo]

Nick Knox 

March 26, 1953 – June 14, 2018

[acklotol]

so, in the little mermaid, flotsam and jetsam are electric eels. its a key plot point that they go and cock block ariel and eric via electric shock.

however their designs, are not electric eels. their designs are of moray eels.

and while i don't like this misrepresentation as now many people think moray eels are electric eels, i do understand why, from a character design perspective, they did this.

moray eels, are objectively unsettling. dont get me wrong, i love them, but like, anything that has an extra jaw that they hide in their throat is unsettling.

electric eels, on the other hand, look so fuckin stupid. i mean this with all the affection in my little eely heart. they have, at most, one braincell. they are wonderful, but they don't have the same vibe.

[a-book-of-creatures]

Don’t you hate it when you’re wrestling electric eels on the bottom of the Amazon River when the bloated corpse of your archenemy is dislodged by the cannonfire of a passing ship causing it to rise straight up through the water column like a soul ascending into Heaven?

Illustration by Benett from La Jangada (Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon), by Jules Verne, 1881.

[owlart18]

Electric eel step murals

Speedpaint

(Commission info here | MapleStickerShop)

[orca-in-disguise]

Critter fact #84:

Electric eels aren't true eels. They are more closely related to carp and catfish!

[mumblelard]

i woke up agitated and angry this morning. where did i go, last night, that i came back this angry? the cracked and careless night wanderer finds trouble again

these ones just tell me that i am want a direction forward. that is the opposite of a helpful message. i'm well aware that i'm looking for it. give me a clue what it is

maybe the anger is what i need, no matter how coarse and unpleasant it feels. wants aside, that's what i have today

[asteroidtroglodyte]

Wait, Electric Eels can breathe air?