Electric fish

Electric fish, any of various fishes having the ability to generate electric currents for stunning prey or enemies or for locating nearby objects. The electric currents are generated in specialized muscles. Fish that stun their prey or their adversaries include the Mediterranean electric ray, which delivers a charge of 200 volts, the marine stargazers, the electric catfish of Africa, and the electric eel of the Amazon. The last is not a true eel; its body organs are squeezed into the head end, and most of the eellike body is given over to an electric organ that discharges 500 volts. The electric eel also discharges a very weak current in the form of continuous pulses, forming an electromagnetic field, allowing the fish to detect disturbances in this field. The elephant-snout fish and the knifefish of Africa also have this faculty.