Common name: Electric catfish

Scientific name: Malapterurus electricus

Family: Malapteruridae

Origin: throughout Central Africa

Maximum size: up to 39" but usually no larger than 12"

Care: This is not a very active cat so dosn't need as much space as some of the other cats such as pims, although due to the size of this fish i would not keep them in anything less than a 48"x30"x24"deep tank. They need to be provided with pleanty of hiding places such as logs/bogwood, tubes etc, dim lighting is prefered. When maintaining the tank, a great deal of care is needed not to stress the fish as these can deliver a nasty shock. I had one at 3" which I got 2 shocks off. It is not really dangerous apart from people with heart problems and young children.

Feeding: Blood worm and chopped mussel are fine whilst young but as they grow, they prefer meaty foods such as lance fish/smelt.

Breeding: I have never heard of this fish being bred in captivity but there are reports that it is a cave spawner in the wild.

Comments: So how is the electricity produced?

When observed through a microscope, the electric organ is seen to be composed of a series of disc-like modified muscle cells called electroplates, stacked in piles like coins, embedded in a jelly like substance and held together by connective tissue to form a tube.
Nerve fibrils connect to one surface of each electroplate, and many blood vessels supply the jelly-like material.
Although the electrical potential of each electroplate is very small, the “wiring” of the plates in series, and the columns in parallel, means that a much higher voltage can be produced.

(will get a better pic ASAP)

I snapped this at the petshop a few days ago

This post has been edited by Opcn: Jun 13 2006, 11:44 PM