Vanderbilt University biologist Kenneth Catania is the first to show definite proof that electric eels can and do leap out of their watery homes to attack a predator. Catania also determined why this tactic is strong enough to even kill a horse. The discovery that proved a much doubted story of the extraordinary behavior in electric eels from the explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt was reported.
Catania first noticed the eel’s leaping behavior accidentally whiles scooping ells out of a tank with an aluminum net. The eels attack anything that produces even a small electric field like animals.. Catania designed an experiment to test the eels leaping ability using a simulated predator made of plastic with a strip of metal on the predator’s head. An array of LEDs on the fake predator’s head indicated the strength of the voltage and amperage delivered by the eels.
Eels jump out of the water and grab the head of a predator because the amount of voltage and amperage that can be delivered increases if the ell is partially out of the water. The predator has to have a foot in the water to receive the maximum charge and pain that the eels can deliver. The behavior evolved to protect the eel’s young and may be related to the level of water that exists in an eel’s habitat. The experiment proves that eels can and do jump out of the water to attack perceived predators and also proves that Humboldt was not making up a fanciful tale when he reported the behavior 200 years ago.
