Electric catfish
family of fishes
Electric catfish, or Malapteruridae (from Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós) meaning "soft", πτερόν (pterón), meaning "wing", and οὐρά (ourá), meaning "tail"), is a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes). This family includes two genera, Malapterurus and Paradoxoglanis, with 21 species. Several species of this family have the ability to generate electricity, delivering a shock of up to 350 volts from its electric organ. Electric catfish are found in tropical Africa and the Nile River. Electric catfish are usually nocturnal and carnivorous. Some species feed primarily on other fish, incapacitating their prey with electric discharges, but others are generalist bottom foragers, feeding on things like invertebrates, fish eggs, and detritus. The largest can grow to about 1.2 meters (4 ft) long, but most species are far smaller.
Description
The Malapteruridae are the only group of catfish with well-developed electrogenic organs; however, electroreceptive systems are widespread in catfishes. The electrogenic organ is derived from anterior body musculature and lines the body cavity. Electric catfish do not have dorsal fins or fin spines.
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This entry incorporates text from “Electric catfish” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.