A new study has revealed a big surprise about electric eels—they hunt in packs. Prior to the study published in Ecology and Evolution, scientists thought the creatures hunted on their own, zapping and then eating fish solo, reports the BBC. But in a Brazilian river in the Amazon, researchers for the first time documented a pack of Volta's electric eels (technically, knifefish) teaming up to corral and kill small fish, per Live Science. The eels gather in groups of about 100, then encircle tetra fish and herd them to shallow waters. There, smaller groups of eels close in and zap the tetra, sometimes with enough force to send them flying out of the water. The demobilized tetra are then easy pickings. While it's common for mammals to hunt together, the practice is rare among fish, explains CNET. The number of fish species who do this is thought to be about 10.
"This is an extraordinary discovery," says senior study author C. David de Santana, per Smithsonian Magazine. "Nothing like this has ever been documented in electric eels." Volta's electric eels grow to roughly 8 feet in length and are capable of delivering an 860-volt shock, the most powerful of any creature on Earth. If 10 of them zapped at the same time, it would be enough to power 100 light bulbs, says Santana. And, yes, he's been zapped himself, describing it as strong enough to cause numbness in his arms. "It's a really strong discharge, however the duration's really short," he says. Researchers documented the hunting strategy multiple times on Brazil's Iriri River, though they are not sure how widespread it is among eels elsewhere. They have begun a citizen science project to gather more information. (More electric eel stories.)
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