By Ridwan Mardini. Age 6. Rockford, IL
Electric eels are not eels. They are a type of knife fish related to catfish with a weberian apparatus, the tiny bones linking the ears to the swim bladder, giving them super-sensitive hearing. Their habitat is in the shallow parts of the muddy bottom of the Amazon River where water flows slowly. They are not endangered.
A four foot eel can produce 500-600 volts of electricity. It is the most powerful of all electric animals. Electric eels are usually 4 feet long but some can reach 8 feet.
Does the electric eel shock itself? Yes, a little bit. You can see them twitch. They protect themselves by having their vital organs in the front 20% of their body. The cells make electricity from chemical energy. They have three pairs of electricity generating organs in the tail making up 80% of its body.
To eat, they only catch small animals they swallow whole – they have no teeth! Eels shock big animals only to protect themselves and swim away.
Ridwan, I enjoyed reading your article about electric eels! Your article is very well written and flows logically from fact to fact. I learned a lot!
Very interesting, and well written. I too learned more about electric eels. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Are we ever impressed! We have never personally known such a young author…and it was a very interesting read as well! Congrats on your success! We look forward to many more interesting publications!!! Thanks for sharing!
Love, Pete & Mary Jo
This is very interesting information. I have difintly learned a new thing today. Thank Radwan for your contribution and hope to see more.