But it turns out there’s a subtlety, a nuance<\/em> to Electrophorus electricus’s<\/em> attacks that nobody suspected until now. (Yes, Electrophorus<\/em>. Not only does this fish have the powers of a Marvel superhero, she’s got a name that’s every bit as hokey.)<\/p>\n “A signal, Commander!” “We have him. Move toward him.” Catania’s experimental setup was surprisingly low-tech: basically, coax an eel into firing her weapons by feeding her worms, while monitoring neuromuscular activity inside pithed fish placed nearby (but still deep in the shock zone). It yielded some very nifty insights, though. For one thing, Electrophorus<\/em> doesn’t just use her superpower to kill prey; she uses it to detect<\/em> that prey beforehand. She sends a low-voltage tickle through the water that mimics fish-motor-neuron commands, tricks her victim’s muscles into a twitch response. The prey jerks<\/em>; that movement generates a pressure wave that the eel can lock onto (think of sharks, drawn to the signature thrashing of wounded prey; think of a submarine, patiently pinging for enemy contacts). Only then, with her target in the crosshairs, does Electrophorus<\/em> fire the big guns: packs of modified muscle tissue punching 600 volts through the water, turning the target into one big clenching charlie-horse to be scooped up at leisure.<\/p>\n We’re not just talking about muscles frying in an electrical field, or just sticking your tongue into a light socket. This is far more sophisticated. The muscle contractions don’t occur unless the motor neurons controlling them are active. It’s the neurons, not the muscles, that are being targeted. What we have here is a strategy that precisely and remotely hacks the prey’s nervous system, planting an explicit self-destruct command that throws the whole body into tetanus.<\/p>\n![\"Electric](\"http:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/BalanceOfTerror-300x226.png\")
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Electric eels hunt kind of like this.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
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