Electro, one of Spiderman's supervillains, can generate large amounts of electricity, theoretically up to about a million volts. In nature we cannot find something like this, but at least we can find a creature that can generate up to 860 volts.
This creature is the electric eel (gender Electrophorus), which is native to the river systems of the tropics of South and Central America.
Electrophorus
According to A study published in Nature in 2019, of the three known living species, E. voltai It is the one that generates the most electricity, with up to 860 volts in the case of a 1.2 meter long female.
The fish produces electricity with three pairs of organs throughout the body. The doctor William Crampton, one of the directors of the study, states, however, that size and electrical potential are not related:
Electric eels can reach enormous sizes, up to 2 meters, but these monsters often have less voltage than other smaller specimens.
The power of the Electrophorus voltai It could be explained as a way of adapting to its aquatic environment, located in highlands, where electrical conductivity is weak. About 250 species of electric fish live in South America. They all produce electrical current to communicate or orient themselves, but eels are the only ones that use it to hunt or defend themselves.
Electric eels, which despite their name look more like fish than real eels, fascinate scientists for their ability to produce electricity, managing to paralyze their prey through an electroshock mechanism. To get an idea: A Taser gun provides 19 high-voltage pulses per second, while the electric eel produces 400 pulses per second.. Eel I would be able to knock down a horse.
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The news
The most electric animal that we can find in nature generates up to 860 volts
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.