Even though electric eels put out jolts of electricity powerful enough to turn on your lights, harnessing their power for human purposes wouldn’t be practical.

For one thing, the eels don’t crank out power consistently – only when they’re provoked. And a tank full of angry electric eels would be hazardous in any home.

Electric eels use electricity as a major sense, much as we use vision or smell. The eels tend to live in murky water, and they’re active mainly at night – so their eyes aren’t very useful. They surround themselves instead with an electric bubble, and can sense the presence of any objects inside the bubble. Eels also use electricity to signal to each other.

Their low intensity signals are usually about five to 10 volts. But they can produce charges up to around 600 volts. So a zap from an electric eel could give you a stronger shock than what you’d get sticking your finger in a wall socket. Electric eels use these strong charges to stun and kill the small fish they eat, and to fend off predators.

Electric eels can’t run your toaster, but other electric fish have been put to work to help the environment. Since the presence of pollutants affects the signals they emit, these electric fish have been used to monitor water quality.

By the way, slender slimy “true” eels don’t produce electricity. What we call “electric eels” are really just hefty, snake-like fish more closely related to catfish.

Our thanks to Harold Zakon.
Dr. Harold Zakon is professor of neurobiology at the University of Texas at Austin, and an expert in the biology of electric fish.