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what could beat an electric eel/electric catfish; at parity
Topic Started: Jul 6 2015, 02:32 AM (2,451 Views)
retic
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snake and dinosaur enthusiast
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i'm wondering if any animal could win against a fish that could generate electricity (in an aquatic environment), such as the electric eel. this also includes electric catfishes and torpedo rays. it should be noted that i'm talking about a parity match up.
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Molosser
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Ursids, Canids, and amphycionids
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I'm pretty sure a bull shark would do the trick.. not a marine expert though so I ain't sure maybe smaller animals can do it
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Ceratodromeus
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I dunno of any really that would be able to kill an electric eel while the eel is aware of it - there's a pretty well known video of a caiman attempting to predate on an electric eel -- the voltage being too much for the crocodilian in the end game. I doing in mind the caiman was larger then the eel, makes me think not many can actually kill an eel in a face-to-face scenario at parity weights.

Would like to be proven wrong, though.
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ARM0R
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Quote:

"Electric eels are able to generate a voltage of up to 500 volts at a current of 0.83 amps and thus a power output of 415 watts. Strong enough to paralyze and possibly kill a human. Electric eels possess no natural enemies simply because none can withstand the powerful jolts."
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Grimace
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Molosser
Jul 6 2015, 05:52 AM
I'm pretty sure a bull shark would do the trick.. not a marine expert though so I ain't sure maybe smaller animals can do it
Not at parity it couldn't.

As someone who keeps an electric eel, i'd say a sufficiently huge animal could do it if they were really determined. So any really large shark, or whale or etc.

I have no idea if an electric catfish could handle the shocks properly, but they could likely beat one to death if they'd be immune to it.
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Molosser
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"are capable of producing a shock at up to 600 volts and 1 ampere of current (600 watts) for a duration of two milliseconds. It would be extremely unlikely for such a shock to be deadly for an adult human, due to the very short duration of the discharge."

the EE's electric attack is greatly overrated. I do realize that it's no joke but not to the point where no animal of around its size can't kill it and most certainly not too much for a 100 kg bull shark.
Like I said I ain't a marine expert so I'm not sure maybe no marine animal can kill it at parity but bull sharks average 90-130 kg . Isn't that much much bigger than the eel ? Or are we using a very young shark?
Edited by Molosser, Jul 6 2015, 01:30 PM.
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Grimace
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Molosser
Jul 6 2015, 01:26 PM
"are capable of producing a shock at up to 600 volts and 1 ampere of current (600 watts) for a duration of two milliseconds. It would be extremely unlikely for such a shock to be deadly for an adult human, due to the very short duration of the discharge."

the EE's electric attack is greatly overrated. I do realize that it's no joke but not to the point where no animal of around its size can't kill it and most certainly not too much for a 100 kg bull shark.
Like I said I ain't a marine expert so I'm not sure maybe no marine animal can kill it at parity but bull sharks average 90-130 kg . Isn't that much much bigger than the eel ? Or are we using a very young shark?
I've always assumed parity meant both animals were the same size.
Yeah, I definitely expect an electric eel to kill an adult bull shark.

Its also worth noting the really deadly part of an electric eel isn't the shock itself, but drowning once you get paralyzed and fall right into the shallow water. So technically it isn't the shock killing you, but you're still dead.

The shock is only a few milliseconds, but they can keep doing it over and over and over and over again for a surprisingly long time.
Edited by Grimace, Jul 6 2015, 02:27 PM.
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Ceratodromeus
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Quote:
 
The EE's electric attack is greatly overrated

Great argument.

.
Quote:
 
I do realize that it's no joke but not to the point where no animal of around its size can't kill it

Can you provide evidence of successful predation on adult electric eels, then? Caiman seem to have quite a difficult time trying to even bite them.
Quote:
 
most certainly not too much for a 100 kg bull shark.

The OP specified parity weights, meaning the two animals are at similar weights.
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Grimace
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Also an interesting thing to note from keeping one is that they are afraid of exactly nothing. Only other animal i've seen be so unphased by weird threatening things are Phyllobates terribilis
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maker
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Overrated or not, the electric eel's is definitely going to at least paralyze, if not kill, any bull shark regardless of size.
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M4A2E4
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I know!

Giant freshwater whipray stabs the electric eel right through the face.

Length of the barb prevents the ray from making direct contact with the eel's electric organs.
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Grimace
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M4A2E4
Jul 8 2015, 10:27 AM
I know!

Giant freshwater whipray stabs the electric eel right through the face.

Length of the barb prevents the ray from making direct contact with the eel's electric organs.
There are two issues with that. Stingrays don't have great aim, and you don't have to come in contact with an electric eel to get nailed.
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Marek
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I think it is really interesting that such a relatively small animal as the electric eel, and even the torpedo, should be rendered effectively invincible owing to something other than sheer bulk. Other animals (large cetaceans, ungulates, and proboscids) are invulnerable due to very large mass, but even animals which are poisonous are often susceptible to animals which are specifically immune to their venom and agile enough to dispatch them (many poisonous snakes, scorpions, and spiders have well-adapted adversaries, including rodents and herpestids). Thus, a special ability is the martial forte of these organisms. Any other animals in a similar circumstance (difficult to give them a fair match-up)? Don't want to steer this thread off course, and I'll make a new one or leave it to somebody else if it's an interesting enough topic. I can think of some porcupine species (cape, crested) and the bombardier beetles.
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Grimace
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Marek
Jul 8 2015, 03:01 PM
I think it is really interesting that such a relatively small animal as the electric eel, and even the torpedo, should be rendered effectively invincible owing to something other than sheer bulk. Other animals (large cetaceans, ungulates, and proboscids) are invulnerable due to very large mass, but even animals which are poisonous are often susceptible to animals which are specifically immune to their venom and agile enough to dispatch them (many poisonous snakes, scorpions, and spiders have well-adapted adversaries, including rodents and herpestids). Thus, a special ability is the martial forte of these organisms. Any other animals in a similar circumstance (difficult to give them a fair match-up)? Don't want to steer this thread off course, and I'll make a new one or leave it to somebody else if it's an interesting enough topic. I can think of some porcupine species (cape, crested) and the bombardier beetles.
I don't understand why more animals don't have it tbh, its a pretty broken ability.

That said though, all the big near invincible electric fish are also pretty large animals.
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Marek
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Grimace
Jul 8 2015, 05:25 PM
Marek
Jul 8 2015, 03:01 PM
I think it is really interesting that such a relatively small animal as the electric eel, and even the torpedo, should be rendered effectively invincible owing to something other than sheer bulk. Other animals (large cetaceans, ungulates, and proboscids) are invulnerable due to very large mass, but even animals which are poisonous are often susceptible to animals which are specifically immune to their venom and agile enough to dispatch them (many poisonous snakes, scorpions, and spiders have well-adapted adversaries, including rodents and herpestids). Thus, a special ability is the martial forte of these organisms. Any other animals in a similar circumstance (difficult to give them a fair match-up)? Don't want to steer this thread off course, and I'll make a new one or leave it to somebody else if it's an interesting enough topic. I can think of some porcupine species (cape, crested) and the bombardier beetles.
I don't understand why more animals don't have it tbh, its a pretty broken ability.

That said though, all the big near invincible electric fish are also pretty large animals.
I said they were relatively small; an animal of a few hundred pounds does not have the same bulk benefit as an animal weighing a half dozen tons.
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