| Title |
The shocking predatory strike of the electric eel
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Science, December 2014
|
| DOI | 10.1126/science.1260807 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Kenneth Catania |
| Abstract |
Electric eels can incapacitate prey with an electric discharge, but the mechanism of the eel's attack is unknown. Through a series of experiments, I show that eel high-voltage discharges can activate prey motor neurons, and hence muscles, allowing eels to remotely control their target. Eels prevent escape in free-swimming prey using high-frequency volleys to induce immobilizing whole-body muscle contraction (tetanus). Further, when prey are hidden, eels can emit periodic volleys of two or three discharges that cause massive involuntary twitch, revealing the prey's location and eliciting the full, tetanus-inducing volley. The temporal patterns of eel electrical discharges resemble motor neuron activity that induces fast muscle contraction, suggesting that eel high-voltage volleys have been selected to most efficiently induce involuntary muscle contraction in nearby animals. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 607 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 108 | 18% |
| United States | 34 | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 1% |
| Australia | 5 | <1% |
| Canada | 4 | <1% |
| India | 4 | <1% |
| China | 4 | <1% |
| Spain | 3 | <1% |
| Indonesia | 3 | <1% |
| Other | 24 | 4% |
| Unknown | 411 | 68% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 564 | 93% |
| Scientists | 31 | 5% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 8 | 1% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | <1% |
| Unknown | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 145 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 5 | 3% |
| Germany | 2 | 1% |
| Portugal | 1 | <1% |
| Czechia | 1 | <1% |
| Turkey | 1 | <1% |
| Japan | 1 | <1% |
| Spain | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 133 | 92% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 33 | 23% |
| Researcher | 23 | 16% |
| Student > Bachelor | 16 | 11% |
| Student > Master | 12 | 8% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 10 | 7% |
| Other | 26 | 18% |
| Unknown | 25 | 17% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 52 | 36% |
| Neuroscience | 17 | 12% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 7 | 5% |
| Engineering | 6 | 4% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 5 | 3% |
| Other | 27 | 19% |
| Unknown | 31 | 21% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 822. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 14 January 2024.
All research outputs
#23,104
of 25,884,216 outputs
Outputs from Science
#1,063
of 83,399 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#153
of 369,366 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science
#11
of 855 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,884,216 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 83,399 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 66.2. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 369,366 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 855 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.