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Electric eel skeleton, with the long vertebral column at top, the row of bony rays below. Electric eels have long, stout bodies, being somewhat cylindrical at the front but more flattened towards the tail end. E. electricus can reach 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length, and 20 kg (44 lb) in weight. The mouth is at the front of the snout, and opens upwards.
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.
Electric eels use electricity in multiple ways. Low voltages are used to sense the surrounding environment. High voltages are used to detect prey and, separately, stun them, at which point the electric eel applies a suction-feeding bite. [12] Anatomy of an electric eel's electric organs. Sachs' organ is associated with electrolocation. Inside ...
The first part is the sinus venosus, a thin-walled sac that collects blood from the fish's veins before allowing it to flow to the second part, the atrium, which is a large muscular chamber. The atrium serves as a one-way antechamber, sends blood to the third part, ventricle .
Both are used to locate prey; stronger electric discharges are used in a few groups of fishes (most famously the electric eel, which is not actually an eel but a knifefish) to stun prey. The capabilities are found almost exclusively in aquatic or amphibious animals, since water is a much better conductor of electricity than air.
The electric discharge pattern of bluntnose knifefishes is similar to the low voltage electrolocative discharge of the electric eel. This is thought to be a form of bluffing Batesian mimicry of the powerfully protected electric eel. [28] Fish that prey on electrolocating fish may "eavesdrop" [29] on the discharges of their prey to detect them.
Fish have the simplest circulatory system, consisting of only one circuit, with the blood being pumped through the capillaries of the gills and on to the capillaries of the body tissues. This is known as single cycle circulation. [49]
A capillary is a small blood vessel, from 5 to 10 micrometres in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima (the innermost layer of an artery or vein), consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. [2]