(Newser)
– A new study has revealed a big surprise about electric eels: they hunt in packs. Prior to the study published in Ecology and evolution, scientists thought the creatures hunted alone, zapping and then eating fish alone, reports the BBC. But in a Brazilian river in the Amazon, researchers first documented a package of electric Volta eels (technically, knife fish) that come together to corral and kill small fish, according to Live Science. Eels gather in groups of about 100, and then surround tetra fish and gather them in shallow water. There, smaller groups of eels close in and design the tetra, sometimes strong enough to make them fly out of the water. The demobilized tetra are then simple. While it is common for mammals to poop together, the practice is uncommon among fish, CNET explains. The number of fish species that do this is believed to be about 10.
“This is an extraordinary discovery,” says study lead author C. David de Santana, per Smithsonian Magazine. “Nothing like electric eels has ever been documented.” Volta’s electric eels grow up to about 8 feet in length and are capable of producing a discharge of 860 volts, the most powerful of Earth’s creatures. If you had to zapping them at the same time, it would be enough to feed 100 light bulbs, says Santana. And, yes, he has been kicked himself, describing him as strong enough to cause numbness in his arms. “It’s a very strong discharge, but the duration is very short,” he says. Researchers have documented the hunting strategy several times in Brazil’s Iriri River, although they do not know how far it is among eels elsewhere. They have started a citizen science project to gather more information. (Read more stories of electric eels.)