Electric organ (fish)
Videos
In biology, the electric organ is an organ that an electric fish uses to create an electric field. Electric organs are derived from modified muscle or in some cases nerve tissue, called electrocytes,
Skates (Raja montagui shown) have their electric organ in the tail.
Stargazers like Astroscopus y-graecum have the electric organ in the head, arranged vertically.
Electric eel anatomy: first detail shows electric organs, made of stacks of electrocytes. Second detail shows an individual cell with ion channels and pumps through the cell membrane; A nerve cell's terminal buttons are releasing neurotransmitters to trigger electrical activity. Final detail shows coiled protein chains of an ion channel.
Electroreception and electrogenesis are the closely related biological abilities to perceive electrical stimuli and to generate electric fields. Both are used to locate prey; stronger electric dischar
Electric organ (fish)
…Darwin used them as an instance of convergent evolution in his 1859 On the Origin of Species. Modern study began with Hans Lissmann's 1951 study of electroreception and electrogenesis in Gymnarchus niloticus. Detailed descriptions of the powerful shocks that the electric catfish could give were written in ancient Egypt…
Hans Lissmann discovered electroreception in 1950 through his observations of Gymnarchus niloticus.
For the elephantfish, the electric organ in the tail (blue) generates an electric field (cyan). This is sensed by electroreceptors in the skin, including two electric pits (foveas) to actively search and inspect objects. Shown are the field distortions created by two different types of objects: a plant that conducts better than water (green) and a non-conducting stone (brown).
Electric eels create electric fields powerful enough to stun prey using modified muscles. Some weakly electric knifefishes appear to mimic the electric eel's discharge patterns; this may be Batesian mimicry, to deceive predators that they are too dangerous to attack.