For The First Time, Electric Eels Have Been Seen Hunting And Zapping Prey as a Group
Electric eels appear to not be the loners we thought they were.
In a small lake deep in the Amazon River basin in Brazil, scientists have for the first time recorded the fish not just living together, but actively working together to forage, and to bring down their prey.
There s even evidence that the strategy is working. Of the plentiful Volta s electric eels (
Electrophorus voltai, not a true eel but a type of knifefish) found living in the lake, many were over 1.2 metres (4 feet) in length and thriving.
Electric eels shocking their prey as a group in a coordinated hunting effort. (Douglas Bastos)
(CN) In the heart of the Brazilian wilds, researchers have discovered a lake that is home to scores of electric eels shrewdly working together to bring down elusive prey, despite once being regarded as a species that exclusively hunts and dines alone.
Deep in the untamed lands of the Amazon rainforest off the banks of the Iriri River in Brazil, C. David de Santana and a team of scientists have discovered a small, unassuming lake fed by the waters of the nearby river. The lake, no deeper than 10 feet at its lowest point and well populated by a network of sunken logs, quickly captured the attention of researchers for a single, perplexing reason: living among the underwater debris are over 100 electric eels, all living in remarkably close quarters considering their history of being – like most fish – largely solitary predators.
January 14th, 2021, 11:00AM / BY Abigail Eisenstadt
The Volta’s electric eel,
Electrophorus voltai, emits the strongest shocks of any animal on Earth. Although these eels were thought to be loners, the species was recently seen hunting in a group. (L. Sousa)
A group of crows is called a murder and a group of lemurs is called a conspiracy. But there is no name for a group of electric eels. That’s because in the past scientists thought they were solitary animals.
Today, a new paper in
Ecology and Evolution challenges what researchers know about eels’ supposed loner behavior. Researchers have now discovered a group of electric eels working together to attack small fish in the Brazilian Amazon River basin. The eels, which are a type of knifefish rather than true eels, were once thought to be loners who preyed alone.