Mechanism behind 860 volts generated from a fish

Electric Eels are eye-catching species that vary in size, sometimes taller than human beings or small as a fish of 5cm. They are the creatures that generate electricity as a defense mechanism against predators. They can generally produce up to 850 volts of electricity against that stuns their prey.

 How is this high voltage electricity emitted?

The secret to this lies in their abdomen. The stomach is divided into two halves, the upper and lower half.  The main organ spans nearly three-fourths of its length and is located at the upper half, while the sax is a muscular organ located at the tail, and the lower half consists of one undivided organ known as the hunter's organ. In these organs, there are thousands of electrolytes which are highly modified cells that act as a medium for the transmission of electricity. Similar to a battery, ions flow through them building current. These cells are known as electricity-producing cells which under the command of the nucleus  release electric charges.

 How do they hunt? Eels hunt in a fascinating way that one may not expect. They either grab with their mouth or curl around that stuns their prey within 3/1000th of a second after getting in contact. After their feed is immobilized, they swallow it. Interestingly, the sax part of the Eels can generate weak current waves which creates an electric field around it. This field is for communicating to fellow Eels or for electrolocation. 

How do they use voltage attacks to take down prey or defend themselves from predators? When they sense a disturbance in the water, they immediately create a Powerful electric pulse of 860 volts. These Pulses hijack the animal's nervous system causing them to violently twitch in the water. This twitch reveals the location of the animal's hiding place involving them in a dangerous situation. Surprisingly, They generate more electricity when Eels attack their predators outside water. The electrical current is forced to travel inside the body until it reaches the negative pole in the body while water acts as a conductor, it produces relatively less electricity inside water. As an experiment, scientists have created a prosthetic arm and placed it inside a tub where an Eel is present. As soon as it senses the prosthetic arm, it gets out of the water and produces the highest discharge ever inside the artificial limb.

Is Eel's muscle similar to Marx generators? A Marx generator is an electrical circuit first introduced by Erwin Otto Marx in the 19th century. It generates a high-voltage pulse from a Low Voltage Direct Current supply. The Eel muscle has a similar structure to Marx generators which could be an inspiration to human-made generators