Electric catfish: An unpleasant surprise for the fisherman. A fish that hunts, defends itself and even swears with electric shock (7 photos)

What abilities are not developed from the harsh life on our planet. Changing color, spitting poison, restoring lost limbs. All this can be seen not only during a visit to the FMS, but also in the kinder and more pleasant world of wild nature. Our today's hero is the owner of one of these chips. Meet the electric catfish!





The electric catfish is an inhabitant of freshwater bodies of Africa. Most of the animal's day consists of lying down and doing nothing. In captivity, this guy may not move at all for weeks.



In aquariums, the catfish lies exactly where food falls to it. If the food falls a few centimeters further, it will take several days before the catfish moves.

He has all the attributes of a catfish appearance: he has a mustache, fins and the look of a man who came to work at 7:00 without a drop of coffee in his mouth. Only the size let us down: compared to its counterparts from latitudes, the electric catfish is a tiny little thing. Its maximum is a meter. But our hero doesn’t have much of a complex, because Mother Nature has thoughtfully rewarded him with the ability to give electric shocks!





The catfish doesn't just stupidly hit everything around with charges. He is a rational fish - he generates a number of electrical impulses, depending on the level of danger or the size of the expected prey. Moreover, he doesn’t even go out hunting - he just lies there and shocks unsuspecting fish with electric shocks. Why fuss when you have the power of physics in your power?



In my next life I want to be a catfish.

A power bank with fins produces up to 300 volts of electricity, and its current strength is equal to a stun gun - 1 ampere. So the fish is strong enough to fry someone for dinner. Moreover, the electric catfish kills small prey on the spot. The electric catfish has also been playing tricks on unlucky swimmers, and since time immemorial. The floating shocker impressed people so much that they immortalized it on the walls of the necropolis! Twenty kilometers from Cairo there is a burial place 4,500 years old. Our humble fish is painted on the walls in the campaign of the pharaohs and gods.



The Egyptians even gave him the nickname “he who saved many.” Some researchers believe that ancient people used catfish in folk medicine as a medicine. Others suggest that fishermen gave this nickname to the animal. They pulled the catfish out of the water along with the rest of the fish and received an invigorating charge of electricity. Such frying (literally) makes one give up, and the entire catch is released. The second option seems more plausible, because African fishermen still catch electric bream from catfish through the line of nets.



Fish release their current not only to cripple animals physically, but also morally. Thanks to electricity, catfish communicate with each other, just like we do on the Internet. Moreover, their conversations are very reminiscent of couch battles. Pisces are extremely territorial, so their dialogue probably consists of calling each other funny names.



If the guest does not leave, a fight begins between the catfish. They bite each other at the holy of holies of all catfish - the mustache!

But how the catfish communicates with the opposite sex is not known for certain. The scientist matchmakers turned out so-so. Each attempt to bring fish together ended with the strongest surviving from a pair of catfish. So if you see an electric catfish, know that it used to warm its sides in distant Africa - they never learned how to breed animals in captivity.

But talking about a catfish as a lazy sociopath who loves to eat, it is worth recognizing that there is such a catfish in almost every apartment. And, probably, in each of us.