During field measurements using a voltmeter, the researchers recorded a discharge of 860 volts, the highest found in any animal, for a specimen of E. This has never been done before to identify a new species," Menezes said. "We used voltage as the key differentiation criterion. The authors of the article also include Luiz Antonio Wanderley Peixoto, currently at MZ-USP for a postdoctoral internship under the supervision of Aléssio Datovo da Silva, coprincipal investigator for the Thematic Project. electricus, now defined as the species that lives in the northernmost part of the Amazon region, the researchers found sufficient differences to add two new species to the genus: E. This makes the species the strongest known bioelectric generator, and may be an adaptation to the lower conductivity of highland waters. voltai can discharge up to 860 Volts of electricity-significantly more than the previously known 650 Volts generated by E. Electrophorus voltai (shown above), one of the two newly discovered electric eel species, primarily lives further south than Electrophorus electricus on the Brazilian Shield, another highland region.Scientists discovered that E. 10, 2019 issue of the journal Nature Communications. South American rivers are home to at least three different species of electric eels, including a newly identified species capable of generating a greater electrical discharge than any other known animal, according to a new analysis published in the Sept. The only species of electric eel previously known to science was Electrophorus electricus, which Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus described in 1766. The shock is used for defense and predation," said Carlos David de Santana, an associate researcher at the US National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), administered by the Smithsonian Institution, and first author of the article.īy correlating DNA, morphology and environmental data, and measuring the discharged voltage, the researchers concluded that the animals in question should be reclassified into three species. "The electric eel, which can reach 2.5 meters in length, is the only fish that produces such a strong discharge it uses three electric organs. There are currently approximately 250 valid gymnotiform species among 34 genera and five families.Īll are capable of producing a weak electric field for communication and navigation (most have very small eyes). Gymnotiformes, the knifefish family to which Gymnotidae belong, are native to Mexico and South America, are found almost exclusively in freshwater habitats, and are mostly nocturnal. The study, published in Nature Communications, not only provides new knowledge about the animal more than 250 years after it was first described but also opens up new avenues of research into the origin and production of strong electric discharges in other fish species. Electric eels are naked-back knifefishes ( Gymnotidae) and are more closely related to catfish and carp than to other eel families.
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