--- title: How Electric Eels Shock Their Victims description: The predators have a two-pronged tactic to "remotely control" their prey canonical: https://time.com/3619910/electric-eels-shock-victims/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-05T13:08:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:36:19.761Z article:section: Science og:title: How Electric Eels Shock Their Victims og:description: The predators have a two-pronged tactic to "remotely control" their prey og:url: https://time.com/3619910/electric-eels-shock-victims/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7be8f95e886f6861/69876ced06f2c15214332ae8/electric-eel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Electric Eel og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Electric Eels Shock Their Victims twitter:description: The predators have a two-pronged tactic to "remotely control" their prey twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7be8f95e886f6861/69876ced06f2c15214332ae8/electric-eel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is How Electric Eels Shock Their Victims by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Dec 5, 2014 1:08 PM UTC  Electric Eel Electric EelGetty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Dec 5, 2014 1:08 PM UTC In the battle of electric eel vs. prey, it turns out electric eels have an even greater advantage than we thought. A new study published in the journal [Science](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6214/1231) reveals the mechanics of the eel’s electric discharge, showing how the predators use this biological weapon to “remotely control their target.” When an eel is pursuing a fish and doesn’t want it to get away it can emit an electric charge from its organs that stuns its victim, according to research by Vanderbilt University’s Kenneth Catania. The elongated fish uses “high-frequency volleys to induce immobilizing whole-body muscle contraction.” MORE: [The Top 10 New Species of 2014](http://time.com/3594685/top-10-new-species/) And when an eel is looking for prey and cannot find any, it uses a different tactic: the eel releases electricity in two or three batches, which actually causes nearby fish to twitch, revealing their hiding place. It’s an electric eel’s world and tiny fish are just living in it. _Read next:_ [_And Then Here’s an Owl Going for a Swim in Lake Michigan_](http://time.com/3619260/lake-michigan-owl-swim/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3619910/electric-eels-shock-victims/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3619910/electric-eels-shock-victims/"},"headline":"This Is How Electric Eels Shock Their Victims","datePublished":"2014-12-05T13:08:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:36:19.761Z","description":"The predators have a two-pronged tactic to \"remotely control\" their prey","url":"https://time.com/3619910/electric-eels-shock-victims/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7be8f95e886f6861/69876ced06f2c15214332ae8/electric-eel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7be8f95e886f6861/69876ced06f2c15214332ae8/electric-eel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Electric Eel","caption":"Electric Eel","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3619910/electric-eels-shock-victims/","name":"This Is How Electric Eels Shock Their Victims"}}]}] ```