ELECTRIC EEL. 



103 



Although the fishes of the family Grymnotidse have long, eel- 

 like bodies (fig. 52), and Gymnotus itself is called the " Electric 

 Eel/' they are not related to the Eels. The presence of the 

 Weberian ossicles in the Gymnotidse and their absence in the Eels 

 is alone sufficient to satisfy one that the resemblance is super- 

 ficial only. The Gymnotidse are in all probability degraded forms 

 of Characmidae. They are confined to the fresh waters of Central 

 and South America. 



The Electric Eel (315) grows to a length of eight feet. It is 

 found in the marshes and shallow parts of rivers of the northern 

 part of South America, and renders the fording of such rivers 

 dangerous, since the horses frequently fall when they receive an 



Gymno- 

 tidse. 



Electric 

 Eel. 



Fio. 52. — Electric Eel, Gymnotus electricus. 



electric shock from the fish. After delivering two or three shocks 

 the fish is exhausted, and is harmless for a time, and although 

 Humboldt's story of the natives catching Electric Eels by first 

 driving horses into the water for the fishes to discharge their 

 shocks upon has not been confirmed by later travellers, it may 

 nevertheless be based on fact. 



Gymnotus is the only member of the family Gymnotidae which 

 possesses electric organs. These organs are composed of modified 

 muscular tissue ; they are richly supplied with nerves connected 

 with the spinal cord, and they consist of compartments with 

 fibrous walls enclosing a stiff jelly, arranged in the form of a band 



