Gymnotus electricus - detail
Date 1820-1821
Source/Photographer Rudolphi, Berl. Abh., p. 223 tab. 2
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gymnotus_electricus_-_detail_-_1820-1821_-_Print_-_Iconographia_Zoologica_-_Special_Collections_University_of_Amsterdam_-_UBA01_IZ15100129.tif

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. Electric eels inhabit fresh waters of the Amazon and Orinoco River basins in South America, in floodplains, swamps, creeks, small rivers, and coastal plains. They often live on muddy bottoms in calm or stagnant waters.