The Shocking Ability of Electric Eels

The electric eel is a type of fish (not an eel) that has the shocking ability of producing

and discharging electricity. They do this with special structures called electrocytes, that

are stacked in columns. A signal is sent from the brain to the electrocytes which makes

them release positive sodium ions. This creates a difference in charge between the

inside and outside of the electrocytes, creating a potential difference (voltage). Once

this charge has been built up, the electric eels can then send another signal that allows

the ions to move back into the cells, discharging the electric charge.