electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) Electric eel (Electrophorus electricus). Taken at the New England Aquarium (Boston, MA, December 2006. Copyright © 2006 Steven G. Johnson and donated to Wikipedia under GFDL and CC-by-SA.
Date 9 December 2006 (according to Exif data)
Author Steven G. Johnson https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Stevenj
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electric-eel.jpg
The electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) is an electric fish, and the only species in its genus. Despite the name, it is not an eel, but rather a knifefish. In the electric eel, some 5,000 to 6,000 stacked electroplaques can make a shock up to 860 volts and 1 ampere of current (860 watts) for two milliseconds. The species is so unusual that it has been reclassified several times. Originally, it was given its own family, Electrophoridae, which was later merged into the genus of Gymnotidae, alongside Gymnotus.
Order: Gymnotiformes
Family: Electrophoridae
Genus: Electrophorus
Species: Electrophorus electricus (Linnaeus, 1766)