📸 PhotoPhoto: Stan Shebs · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Electric catfish
Malapterurus electricus (Electric catfish · デンキナマズ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum standard length of 1.22 m is about the height of a 1st-grade elementary school child (Comparison).
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 20 kg is equal to one 20 kg bag of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 It is eaten in parts of Africa, and smoked electric catfish is a popular delicacy around Lake Kainji (ADW).
- 💡 Because its electric organ is controlled by a single giant neuron, it is used in neuron research and is occasionally traded as an aquarium fish (ADW).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The electric catfish is a freshwater catfish of tropical Africa that stuns prey by discharging strong electricity from the electric organ in its body.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is cylindrical like a plump sausage, with small eyes and 3 pairs of barbels around the mouth. It lacks a dorsal fin, and an electric organ derived from pectoral muscle surrounds almost its entire body, capable of producing 300–400 V.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is active at night and hides in shelters during the day. Because its eyes are small, it hunts and navigates using electric signals, swallowing fish stunned by electric shocks up to half its own body size.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2025) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/182850/271756554
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 3XM28
- • iucnredlist.org — 271756554
- • wikidata.org — Q3779283
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Malapterurus electricus 1.jpg
- • fishbase.se — Malapterurus-electricus.html
- • animaldiversity.org — Malapterurus electricus
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.