The fish that can stun a horse with 860 volts
This fish can generate 860 volts of electricity — enough to stun a horse.
The short version
The electric eel (which isn't actually an eel) is about 80% battery — thousands of stacked cells that fire small zaps like radar and a massive shock to stun prey. Some even leap from the water to electrify threats.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Electric Eel can generate up to 860 volts — enough to stun a horse.
- ✓The Electric Eel is about 80% battery, made of thousands of stacked power cells.
- ✓The Electric Eel fires small zaps like radar to find prey hiding in murky water.
- ✓The Electric Eel can leap out of the water to deliver a stronger shock, and never shocks itself.
The full story
This fish can generate eight hundred and sixty volts of electricity, which is more than enough to stun a full-grown horse. Meet the electric eel, which, weirdly, is not actually an eel at all. About eighty percent of its entire body is basically one giant living battery, packed with thousands of special cells that stack up like tiny power plants. It fires off small zaps almost like radar to find prey hiding in the murky water, and then hits them with one massive shock to stun them. Some have even been filmed leaping straight up out of the water to electrify a threat directly, which delivers a far more powerful jolt. And amazingly, it can fire these shocks again and again without ever electrocuting its own body. It is, quite literally, a living taser. Follow for more weird animals.
Watch the 45-second version
Electric Eel gallery
