This eel leaps out to shock you.

This eel leaps out of the water to shock you.

When a large threat sits partly in shallow water, an electric eel can swim up, press its chin to the target, and keep firing high-voltage pulses while it climbs. Catania showed the climb short-circuits more of the organ's power into the target as the water path lengthens. In a later arm trial with a small eel, peak current through the human subject hit about 40–50 mA — enough to light up pain pathways hard. The behavior is defense when the eel is cornered, not a hunting bite; it also matches the core of Humboldt's 1800 horse-pool story. 12

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