Scientists, led by fish research partner C. David de Santa from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, recently discovered a small lake with a river filled with more than a hundred adult eels in the Brazilian Amazon basin. Many of these eels were said to be up to four feet long.
A report posted in Vectors Journal said, “By itself, this was an interesting discovery, electric eels,” a type of knife fish, instead of real eels, were believed to be “lonely creatures.”
However, in that lake along the banks of the Iriri River in the Brazilian state of Para, the scientists were able to see the eels “working together to turn small fish tetras into balls full of package.”
Then, they also saw groups of 10 eels, occasionally split to form cooperative hunting groups, unlike packets of wolves or pods of deadly whales.
Then these small groups in the prey ball said and attacked at the same time, knocking the tetras inward.
De Santana, the study’s lead author, said it was “an amazing discovery.” He said, nothing like this new find “has ever been recorded in electric eels.”
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(Image: shankar s. On Wikimedia Commons)
Bands of two eels 10 would hatch and move closer and then attack each other on the ball of prey.
(Image: shankar s. On Wikimedia Commons)
Bands of two eels 10 would hatch and move closer and then attack each other on the ball of prey.
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According to a Smithsonian e-news report, a new paper describes that novel behavior in issue 14 of the journal Ecology and Evolution. The findings of the research refute the notion that these serpentine fish are “lone predators” and welcome new questions on the extent to which these fish “are not. a lot of “living” understanding.
Describing the behavior of the creatures, de Santana said that while hunting in groups is somewhat common among mammals, it is, of course, unusual and very rare in fish.
There are only nine other fish species, he said, famous for this practice, “which make this unique discovery very special.”
One of the new electric eel species presented in his 2019 paper with the title, Volta or Electrophorus voltaic electric eel, has the ability to produce 860-volt electric pulses, the strongest emit comes from any animal on Earth, and 210 volts higher compared to the previous record.
This newly defined Volta electric eel, which reaches eight feet in length, is the only species behind a social hunting strategy at the center of the new exploration of Santana.
He explained that if one thinks about it, a person of this species can generate 860 volts for distribution.
So, he said, “in theory 10 of them are released at the same time,” they could generate “a maximum of 8,600 volts of electricity.” “That number is close to the same voltage required” to power 100 light bulbs. “
The first discovery of electric eel hunting in groups
The De Santana group first saw Volta electric eel hunting in groups while on a field trip in 2012. Douglas Bastos, then a Master of Science candidate at INPA Brazil or Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas de Amazonia, traveled and the first author of the paper. in a boat for five days to explore the Iriri River fish diversity.
Now an INPA scientist, Bastos discovered a small lake directly connected to the Iriri River, and to his surprise, the lake housed more than 100 adult electric eels.
A successful trip in 2014 discovered a seemingly incredible collection of Volta electric eels in one location, which allowed Bastos to record their behavior more accurately and that it was only a one-time event.
The team was able to record a total of 72 hours, with continuous monitoring of the eels gathering in this area along the Iriri River.
Electric attacks
With the tetras captured by the main group, de Santana said, bands of two 10 eels would scavenge and move closer and then carry an electric attack together on the ball of prey.
The electric blows caused the tetras to fly out of the water, but when they splashed down, these little fish were motionless.
Eventually, the researchers watched the eels attack, and what the observers described as their relatives just picked up their unprotected prey.
Santana said, each morning or dusk hunt lasted about an hour and consisted of between five and seven high-voltage attacks. This, he continued, is the only place where such behavior has been observed, although, at present, it is thought that the eels, perhaps, appear every year.
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