Paris (AFP)

Two new electric eel species have been discovered in Amazonian freshwaters, including one capable of sending 860-volt dumps, the most powerful ever recorded in the animal world, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications .

Known for more than 250 years, electric eels, large fish up to 2.5 meters long, were previously affiliated by single-species scientists. The identification of two new varieties underscores the extent to which the richness of biodiversity in the Amazon remains unknown, according to this study conducted in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname.

"Still being able to find new fish of this size in the Amazon rainforest, despite the human activities it has been going through for 50 years, shows that there is still a lot of species to discover, many of which could be used for medical research. , or to bring about technological breakthroughs "explains Carlos David de Santana of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, DC, who led the research.

This discovery "reinforces the need to preserve the largest biodiversity reserve on the planet," adds the researcher.

Electric eels, which are in spite of their name closer to fish than real eels, have long-time scientists fascinated by their ability to produce electricity - like a biological battery - allowing them, through an electroshock mechanism to paralyze their prey from a distance.

Their anatomy inspired Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the first battery - the voltaic battery - in 1799. She also served research on neurodegenerative diseases and, more recently, on the hydrogen fuel cell for medical implants.

Carlos David de Santana and his team discovered these two new species by studying the DNA of 107 specimens.

One of them, called "Electrophorus voltaï", located in Brazil, is capable of producing discharges up to 860 volts, 200 volts more than the already known species.

This phenomenon could be explained by an adaptation of this species to its aquatic environment, located on the highlands, where the electrical conductivity is low.

About 250 species of electric fish live in South America. All produce electrical power to communicate or orient themselves, but electric eels are the only ones to use it to hunt or defend themselves.

© 2019 AFP