Mondo Knows Facts
Electric catfish discharge electricity using specialized skin organs
An electric catfish can discharge up to 350 volts when disturbed.
Native to tropical African fresh waters, electric catfish feature electric organs derived from soft muscle tissue lining their entire body wall. They emit strong electrical discharges to stun small fish prey and defend their territory against intruder fish.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
An electric eel can generate shocks exceeding 600 voltsThree specialized electric organs fill most of an electric eel body.Remoras ride large marine animals using a suction cup on their headA modified dorsal fin creates vacuum pressure against shark skin.Leafy seadragons feature leaf-like appendages that never propel themComplex skin lobes resemble floating seaweed for complete disguise.Archerfish shoot down insects using precise water jetsAn archerfish squirts water from its mouth to knock prey into the water.All clownfish are born male and can change into femalesThe dominant male changes sex if the group breeding female dies.Whale sharks filter thousands of tonnes of water every dayThe world largest fish eats microscopic plankton through specialized gill rakers.
Tags: catfish, fish, electricity
Electric catfish discharge electricity using specialized skin organs: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- An electric catfish can discharge up to 350 volts when disturbed. The figure is taken from Encyclopædia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.