The Astonishing Behavior of Electric Eels

Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
Kenneth C Catania

Abstract

The remarkable physiology of the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) made it one of the first model species in science. It was pivotal for understanding animal electricity in the 1700s, was investigated by Humboldt and Faraday in the 1800s, was leveraged to isolate the acetylcholine receptor in the 20th century, and has inspired the design of new power sources and provided insights to electric organ evolution in the 21st century. And yet few studies have investigated the electric eel's behavior. This review focuses on a series of recently discovered behaviors that evolved alongside the eel's extreme physiology. Eels use their high-voltage electric discharge to remotely control prey by transcutaneously activating motor neurons. Hunting eels use this behavior in two different ways. When prey have been detected, eels use high-voltage to cause immobility by inducing sustained, involuntary muscle contractions. On the other hand, when prey are hidden, eels often use brief pulses to induce prey twitch, which causes a water movement detected by the eel's mechanoreceptors. Once grasped in the eel's jaws, difficult prey are often subdued by sandwiching them between the two poles (head and tail) of the eel's powerful electric organ. T...Continue Reading

References

Aug 1, 1992·Biophysical Journal·O Baffa, S L Côrrea
Jan 1, 1970·Annual Review of Physiology·M V Bennett
Sep 1, 1965·Journal of Neurophysiology·S HagiwaraP S Enger
Jan 22, 2002·Trends in Neurosciences·Marco Piccolino, Marco Bresadola
Feb 27, 1953·The Journal of Physiology·R D KEYNES, H MARTINS-FERREIRA
Jan 1, 2008·Bioscience·Philip K Stoddard, Michael R Markham
Dec 6, 2014·Science·Kenneth Catania
Oct 21, 2015·Nature Communications·Kenneth C Catania
Jun 9, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Kenneth C Catania
Jun 27, 2017·Brain, Behavior and Evolution·Kenneth C Catania
Sep 19, 2017·Current Biology : CB·Kenneth C Catania

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Citations

Jan 14, 2021·Toxins·Kenneth C Catania
Feb 19, 2021·Ecology and Evolution·Douglas A BastosCarlos David de Santana
Nov 10, 2021·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Te K JonesCynthia F Moss

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Software Mentioned

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