Electric Eels (genus electrophorus) are actually closer to catfish and knifefish than to true eels, except that they need to surface to breathe air.

Native to lakes, streams and rivers of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, they can grow to some 8 feet long and live some 15 years.

They are carnivores, eating mainly fish and crustaceans but also amphibians and small birds, mostly at night.

The body has several organs that generate electricity, using some 10 volts to navigate and locate prey, 100-400 volts to stun prey and up to 650 volts for defence against predators such as caimans.

In 2019, Electric Eels were split into three species. All three look similar but have different DNA, habitat/ecology, electrical capability and slight anatomical variance. Immediately above is the Lowland Electric Eel, E. varii/multivalvulus, which has a slightly deeper skull. Its habitat, as its name indicates, is Amazon Basin central lowland, with another species (a more narrowly-defined E. electricus) restricted to uplands in the north and another (E. voltai) to uplands in the south.