Electric Catfish
Electric Catfish
Fish
An African river fish that wraps its whole body in living batteries, delivering a shock to stun its prey.
💡 Fun Facts
- A sheath of special muscle wrapped around its body can deliver a shock of up to about 350 volts to stun its prey.
- That is the strongest zap of the electric fish gathered here — enough to startle a person, though rarely dangerous.
- It senses the faint electric fields of other animals, helping it hunt in muddy African rivers where it is hard to see.
Name Story
Malapterurus electricus
means “the electric soft-finned-tail”
likely meaningThe epithet electricus is settled and describes the fish's shock literally. The genus Malapterurus is conventionally parsed as 'soft-finned tail' (malakos + pteron + oura), referring to the fleshy adipose region near the tail; this breakdown is the standard reading but not spelled out by the original author, so mark it probable.
What does its name mean?
- Malapterurus — soft-finned tailGreek malakos 'soft' + pteron 'fin' + oura 'tail'
- electricus — electricLatin electricus, from Greek ēlektron 'amber' (which produces static when rubbed)
The second name says exactly what it does — 'electric' — while the first most likely describes the fleshy, soft-finned patch near its tail. Curiously, the word 'electric' traces back to the Greek for amber, which gives a little static spark when rubbed.