Compared to many of the creatures featured on Weekly Wondrous, the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) scores relatively low on the cuddlesome quotient, however, what the high-voltage South American river dweller lacks in animal magnetism, it makes up for in shock value. And the most shocking eel of them all, the new species Electrophorus voltai, was discovered this fall by scientists at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

But before we get to that electrifying story, perhaps you are wondering, “What are eels, anyway? Reptiles? Amphibians? Fish? Amphishians?” Strictly speaking, electric eels are not true eels but a species of electric fish—long, blade-shaped knifefish to be exact, and more closely related to carp and catfish than eels. The 800-plus species of true eels primarily live in saltwater, while electric eels can only be found in the murky freshwater habitats of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers. It was there, in the highland waters of the Brazilian Shield, that the approximately 8-foot long, 860-volt-producing Electrophorus voltai was identified—the strongest living bioelectricity generator known to date. To put that impressive eel power into perspective, the human body is only capable of producing and transmitting between 10 and 100 millionths of one volt over a distance of approximately one-millionth of a meter, a fact for which those of us who travel by crowded subway are quite grateful.

Like all species of electric eels, the E. voltai produces its record-breaking current through the stimulation of thousands of synchronized stacked cells called electrocytes in three pairs of electric organs that take up 80% of the length of its body. The Smithsonian researchers theorize that the 30% increase in electricity-generating potential from the highest previously recorded E. electricus measurement of 650 volts may be an adaptation to the reduced conductivity of the waters where the E. voltai species began its evolution about 7.1 million years ago.

Electric eels make full use of their innate ability to self-generate jolts, utilizing their piscine electro-pulses for eel-to-eel communication, navigation, self-defense, and to locate and stun small fish and invertebrate prey. The objects of the carnivorous fish’s shocking attentions are captured through a highly effective two-step strategy, which researchers at Vanderbilt University have compared to a type of remote control. First, the eel transmits an electric pulse, which causes whole-body contractions in its prey, revealing its location, then a second shock is administered to immobilize the target for ease of swallowing.

In case you are curious as to how eels manage to avoid electrocuting themselves when they get down to their meal-zapping business, one hypothesis is that the amount of the electricity flow is small in proportion to the eel’s body but significant to the size of its prey, and of very short duration (about two milliseconds). In addition, a large percentage of the current dissipates into the water, further reducing its impact on the eel’s critical organs.

Studying and understanding how eels generate and transmit electricity has inspired all manner of technological and medical innovations that benefit humankind, ranging from the first electric battery in 1799 to the ongoing development of soft robots, cardiac pacemakers, and artificial organs. While an effort has been made to determine what it would take to run a Tesla Model 3 on eel power for one hour, the estimated requirement of 7,200 eels in 144,000 gallons of water indicates that particular research endeavor to be a non-starter for both the Tesla and the eels.

Two hundred and fifty years after the discovery of the first electric eel species in South America, the recent identification of the E. voltai in the same region is yet another compelling testament to the extreme importance of protecting and maintaining biodiversity hotspots like the Amazon. Given that approximately 85% of our planet’s flora and fauna remain to be discovered, it’s clear that preserving wild spaces is critical to the continued study of the living world. As biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson writes in The Diversity of Species, “We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.”

Full disclosure: While eels are clearly some of the most remarkable creatures on Earth and can be strikingly beautiful, we empathize if you are somewhat eel-averse as we confess to hyperventilating a bit while researching this one. However, since getting fish-zapped outside of the Amazon is a low probability event, we can rest easy and simply file these slippery fellows under “admire from afar.”