- Where to see one
- 5 U.S. zoos in our directory hold electric eel, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the electric eel
The electric eel is a South American freshwater fish that is not a true eel but a knifefish. It has a long, cylindrical, scaleless body, typically about 2 m long and 20 kg, dark grey-brown above and yellow or orange below. As an obligate air-breather, it surfaces about every ten minutes to gulp air. Three pairs of abdominal organs let it produce low-voltage pulses to sense its surroundings and high-voltage discharges to stun prey, which includes fish, frogs and small mammals as adults. Males build a nest from saliva, where as many as 3,000 young may hatch.
Electric Eel facts
- It must surface roughly every ten minutes to breathe air.
- Its maximum discharge is 480 volts, the weakest of the three Electrophorus species.
- Three species were recognised after DNA research in 2019.
- First-born hatchlings eat eggs and embryos from later clutches.
Where to see electric eel in the U.S.
5 zoos across 5 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 5 zoos holding electric eel by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
District of Columbia· 1
Missouri· 1
Ohio· 1
Oklahoma· 1
Tennessee· 1
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
