Two new, closely related, species of electric fish of the family Hypopomidae—represented here by Steatogenys elegans, have been discovered in the Amazon.WIKIMEDIA, CLINTON AND CHARLES ROBERTSON
Despite nearly indistinguishable outward physical appearances, the electric discharge signals of two newly discovered species of closely related fishes are quite different. Both electric fish belong to the bluntnose knifefish family; one has a direct current (DC) discharge, whereas the other has an alternating current (AC) discharge. The findings were published Wednesday (August 28) in Zoo Keys.
The two new fish were discovered in the floating grasses of the Amazon River. The electric fields produced by organs in their tails, on the order of a few hundred millivolts, pale in magnitude to the powerful discharge—measuring in the hundreds of volts—of their relative, the electric eel. Disturbances in the weak electric fields produced by the new fish species are sensed by exposed organs, making them useful ...
