Electric eels are more likely to discharge| Nature-Communication

Title: Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator
journal:
C. David de Santana, William G. R. Crampton, Casey B. Dillman, Renata G. Frederico, Mark H. Sabaj, Raphaël Covain, Jonathan Ready, Jansen Zuanon, Renildo R. de Oliveira, Raimundo N. Mendes-Júnior, Douglas A. Bastos, Tulio F. Teixeira, Willian Ohara, Natália Castro e Castro, Luiz A. Peixoto, Cleusa Nagamachi, Leandro Sousa, Luciano F. A. Montag, Frank Ribeiro, Joseph C. Waddell, Nivaldo M. Piorsky, Richard P. Vari, Wolmar B. Wosiacki
Published: 2019/09/10
Digital Identification Number:
WeChat Link:
A paper published in nature-newsletter
describes two new eel species, one of which is called Electrorophorus Voltai, which has an output voltage of 860 volts, far more than previously reported, 250 years ago. However, in part because of their size and special discharge pattern, it has been assumed that electric eels have only one single species, Electrothorus electricus, which is widely distributed in the Greater Amazonia.the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., and the National Museum of Natural History. David de Santana and colleagues examined 107 eel samples from the Greater Amazon to determine whether they were a single species. Based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, morphology, geography, and ecological distribution, the authors conclude that
-
. Their analysis showed that the three eels occupied different areas,
and they also found that E. voltai could output 860 volts, far more than the 650 volts previously recorded by electric eels.The authors believe that the analysis of these eel
could shed light on the origin of high-voltage discharge of electric eels and the physical structure involved.
summary: Is there only one electric eel speciess? For two and a half centuries since its description by Linnaeus, Electrophorus electricus has captivated humankind by its capacity to generate strong electric discharges. Despite the importance of Electrophorus in multiple fields of science, the possibility of additional species-level diversity in the genus, which could also reveal a hidden variety of substances and bioelectrogenic functions, has hitherto not been explored. Here, based on overwhelming patterns of genetic, morphological, and ecological data, we reject the hypothesis of a single species broadly distributed throughout Greater Amazonia. Our analyses readily identify three major lineages that diverged during the Miocene and Pliocene—two of which warrant recognition as new species. For one of the new species, we recorded a discharge of 860 V, well above 650 V previously cited for Electrophorus, making it the strongest living bioelectricity generator.
(Source: Science.com)