Morning!
Good morning, dear readers of Bir17! 🧿 As the Bir17 team, we wish you all a stress-free day. We kindly ask for just five minutes of your time for today’s bit of knowledge, and we raise our coffee cups in your honor. Today, we want to talk about how fish generate electricity. And of course, just for you and only for you… 🫵🏻
Isn’t it fascinating that fish can generate electricity, dear readers? It’s both mind-boggling and incredibly intriguing. The ability of fish to produce electricity is one of nature’s most remarkable adaptations. Electric fish use this ability for hunting, self-defense, and communication. While electric eels are widely known for their ability to generate electricity, they are far from being the only ones with this unique trait.
Electric eels use high-voltage electric pulses to stun their prey, while they also emit low-voltage pulses to sense their surroundings—essentially using a built-in radar system. These low-voltage pulses allow them to detect the position and movement of objects around them with great precision.
Around 350 species of fish possess a specialized anatomical system that enables them to generate and detect electric signals. Scientists categorize these fish into two groups based on the amount of electricity they produce. The first group consists of weakly electric fish, which generate only around one volt using small electric organs near their tails. The fish’s brain sends a signal through the nervous system to an electric organ composed of specialized cells called electrocytes. Under normal conditions, these electrocytes pump sodium and potassium ions out of their cells, creating a negative charge inside and a positive charge outside. However, when the nerve signal reaches the electrocytes, ion channels open, allowing positively charged ions to rush in. This process reverses the polarity, making the outer surface of the electrocyte negative and the inner surface positive.
The true secret behind their power lies in the way their nerve signals synchronize across all their electrocytes at the same time. This coordination enables the electrocytes to function like a series of batteries connected in a row. The tiny charges from each electrocyte combine, forming an electric field that extends several meters. Beneath the fish’s skin, specialized electric-sensing cells allow them to detect changes in their electric field caused by objects or other fish.
For instance, the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) has electric organs that cover most of its body and can generate up to 600 volts of electricity. The electric catfish (Malapterurus electricus), which inhabits Africa’s freshwater rivers, can produce up to 300 volts, using this energy to hunt its prey. Meanwhile, electric rays (Torpediniformes) live in the ocean and generate electricity using disk-shaped organs on their sides, which they use for both hunting and defense.
Knowledge about electric fish has been around since ancient times, but modern science has allowed us to truly understand the mechanisms behind their electricity generation. In the past, people believed that electric shocks from fish could relieve pain, leading to their use in early medical treatments. More recently, scientists have used the principles of electric fish to develop medical devices. For example, pacemakers and other biomedical devices are inspired by the way electrocyte cells function.
Today, researchers are studying how electric fish generate electricity and applying these principles to plants. Their goal is to generate electricity in plant roots, which could enhance soil fertility and boost plant growth.
Life is full of fascinating wonders and surprises, don’t you think, dear readers? Even creatures we may never see in our lifetime have made countless contributions to human life. We’ll leave you with these thoughts to ponder.
Until our next bit of knowledge,
Bir17 Team 🧿