Valerie Tucker, age 14, of Okotoks, Alb., Canada for her question:
What makes the shock of the electric eel?
This sneaky snaky fellow can electrocute a horse. Daring scientists have studied his deadly batteries in action and probed the Secrets of his shock making cells. His electric organ is in his long tail, and it seems to work somewhat like a man made electric battery. The shock occurs when he discharges his battery, and he can do this at will.
Electrical activity goes on in all living tissue. The heart and the brain discharge electrical impulses continuously. The nerves cause the electrical impulses that move the muscles. The so called electric eel has developed this electrical activity one step further to use as a weapon to deal out stunning shocks to his enemies. He also uses it to find his way through the water and to catch fish for food.
This shocking fellow is not a true eel. He is a fishy cousin of the carp and the catfish. His snaky body may be five feet long, but his heart and other vital organs occupy only the front 12 inches of his length. The rest is tail, and most of the tail is occupied by the electric organs that generate his death dealing shocks.
The first chemical battery made by man was a stack of Metal disks Separated frcm each other by wet rags soaked in lye. In many ways it resembled the tissues in the tail of the electric eel. These tissues are made from special cells called electroplagues, and seven of these cells can generate one volt of electricity.
The electroplaques are actually the ends of numerous motor nerves, similar to those that discharge the impulses which move our muscles. They are stacked in rows like the plates of a chemical battery, and the rows are arranged side by side in layers,
The entire electric organ is being recharged constantly, just like a chemical battery.
When the electric eei discharges his battery, he sends shocks through the water. He sends mild impulses to find his way and stronger impulses to stun a fish he wants to eat. When threatened, he discharges a series of shocks powerful enough to stun a man or electrocute a large animal.
The stunning blow from the electric eel can travel 700 yards through the water. Each shook lasts but a fraction of a second, and he discharges three, four or five of them, one after another. He may then pause before discharging another series. Then his battery will be exhausted, and he must wait until it recharges. At his most dangerous time., he can discharge 800 volts of electricity.