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Malapteruridae
Electric catfish or Malapteruridae is a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes). This family includes two genera, '' Malapterurus'' and '' Paradoxoglanis'', with 21 species. Several species of this family have the ability to generate electricity, delivering a shock of up to 350 volts from its electric organ. Electric catfish are found in tropical Africa and the Nile River. Electric catfish are usually nocturnal and carnivorous. Some species feed primarily on other fish, incapacitating their prey with electric discharges, but others are generalist bottom foragers, feeding on things like invertebrates, fish eggs, and detritus. The largest can grow to about 1.2 meters (3 ft) long, but most species are far smaller. Description The Malapteruridae are the only group of catfish with well-developed electrogenic organs; however, electroreceptive systems are widespread in catfishes. The electrogenic organ is derived from anterior body musculature and lines the body cavity. Electric ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malapterurus
''Malapterurus'' is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the electric catfish family (Malapteruridae). It includes 18 species. Distribution The genus ''Malapterurus'' is found throughout western and central tropical Africa and the Nile River. They occur in all major freshwater systems including the Buzi, Niger, Ogooué, Omo, Sanaga, Sabi-Lundi, Senegal, Shari, Congo, and Zambezi River basins, as well as Lakes Albert, Chad, Kainji, Tanganyika, and Turkana. Description ''Malapterurus'' have an elongate and cylindrical body that gives them the general appearance of a sausage. The eyes are small, the lips are rather thick, and the snout is rounded with widely separated nostrils. The gill openings are narrow and restricted to the sides. ''Malapterurus'' species have three pairs of barbels, and lack a dorsal fin. The pectoral, pelvic, and caudal fins are rounded. The swimbladder has two elongate posterior chambers. Species in ''Malapterurus'' are generally grayish-brow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not all catfish have prominent barbels or "whiskers", with some seemingly not having them. Siluriformes as a whole are Fish scale, scale-less, with neither the Armoured catfish, armour-plated nor the naked species having scales. This order of fish are Autapomorphy, defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish range in size and behavior from the three List of largest fish, largest species alive, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia, the wels catfish of Eurasia, and the piraíba of South America, to detritivorous and scavenging bottom feeders, down to tiny ectoparasitic species known as the Candiru (fish), candirus. In the Southern United States, catfish species may be known by a variety of slang names, such as "mud cat", " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malapterurus Electricus
''Malapterurus electricus'' is a thickset fish with six mouth barbels and a single fin on its back, just anterior to the rounded tail fin. It is brownish or grayish, irregularly spotted with black, and attains a length and weight of about and ''M. electricus'' is capable of generating and controlling the discharge of up to 450 volts of electricity. It uses its power to defend itself and to capture prey. Distribution In Africa, it occurs in the Nile and tropical Africa and also in Nasarawa state of Nigeria In Lafia(exclusive of Lake Victoria), Lake Turkana, Lake Chad and Senegal basins. Biology Occurs among rock favors standing water. Active at night, feeding mainly on fish stunned by electric shocks. The electric organ, capable of discharging 300–400 V, is derived from pectoral muscle and surrounds almost the entire body. It is used both for prey capture and defense. Life history This is an Old World catfish. It is reputed that Doctors in ancient Egypt used shocks from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paradoxoglanis
''Paradoxoglanis'' is a genus of electric catfishes native to Africa where all of the known species are endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t .... The species in this genus range from about 11–17 centimetres (4.3–6.7 in) SL. Species There are currently three recognized species in this genus: *'' Paradoxoglanis caudivittatus'' Norris, 2002 *'' Paradoxoglanis cryptus'' Norris, 2002 *'' Paradoxoglanis parvus'' Norris, 2002 References Malapteruridae * Taxa named by Steven Mark Norris Catfish genera Freshwater fish genera Strongly electric fish {{catfish-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Organ (biology)
An Torpediniformes.html" ;"title="electric ray (Torpediniformes">electric ray (Torpediniformes) showing location of paired electric organs in the head, and electrocytes stacked within it In biology, the electric organ is an organ (biology), organ that an electric fish uses to create an electric field. Electric organs are derived from modified muscle or in some cases nerve tissue, called electrocytes, and have evolved at least six times among the Elasmobranchii, elasmobranchs and teleosts. These fish use their electric discharges for navigation, communication, mating, defence, and in strongly electric fish also for the incapacitation of prey. The electric organs of two strongly electric fish, the torpedo ray and the electric eel, were first studied in the 1770s by John Walsh, Hugh Williamson, and John Hunter. Charles Darwin used them as an instance of convergent evolution in his 1859 ''On the Origin of Species''. Modern study began with Hans Lissmann's 1951 study of electr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbels
In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whisker like sensory organ near the mouth (sometimes called whiskers or tendrils). Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some species of shark such as the sawshark. Barbels house the taste buds of such fish and are used to search for food in murky water. The word ''barbel'' comes from Latin ''barbula'' 'little beard'. Barbels are sometimes erroneously referred to as '' barbs'', which are found in bird feathers for flight. Barbels may be located in a variety of locations on the head of a fish. "Maxillary barbels" refers to barbels on either side of the mouth. Barbels may also be nasal, extending from the nostrils. Also, barbels are often mandibular or mental, being located on the chin. In fish, barbels can take the form of small, fleshy protrusions or long, cylindrical shaped extensions of the head of a fish. The cylindri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gas Bladder
The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift via swimming, which expends more energy. Also, the dorsal position of the swim bladder means that the expansion of the bladder moves the center of mass downwards, allowing it to act as a stabilizing apparatus. Additionally, the swim bladder functions as a resonating chamber to produce or receive sound. The swim bladder is evolutionarily homologous to the lungs of tetrapods and lungfish, and some ray-finned fish such as bowfins have also evolved similar respiratory functions in their swim bladders. Charles Darwin remarked upon this in ''On the Origin of Species'', and reasoned that the lung in air-breathing vertebrates had derived from a more primitive swim bladder as a specialized form of enteral respiration. Some species, such as mostly bottom dw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Catfish In Mastaba Of Ti Bas-relief Detail
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwell's equations. Common phenomena are related to electricity, including lightning, static electricity, electric heating, electric discharges and many others. The presence of either a positive or negative electric charge produces an electric field. The motion of electric charges is an electric current and produces a magnetic field. In most applications, Coulomb's law determines the force acting on an electric charge. Electric potential is the work done to move an electric charge from one point to another within an electric field, typically measured in volts. Electricity plays a central role in many modern technologies, serving in electric power where electric current is used to energise equipment, and in electronics dealing with electrical c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower Egypt were amalgamated by Menes, who is believed by the majority of List of Egyptologists, Egyptologists to have been the same person as Narmer. The history of ancient Egypt unfolded as a series of stable kingdoms interspersed by the "Periodization of ancient Egypt, Intermediate Periods" of relative instability. These stable kingdoms existed in one of three periods: the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age; the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age; or the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age. The pinnacle of ancient Egyptian power was achieved during the New Kingdom, which extended its rule to much of Nubia and a considerable portion of the Levant. After this period, Egypt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narmer
Narmer (, may mean "painful catfish", "stinging catfish", "harsh catfish", or "fierce catfish"; ) was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period, whose reign began at the end of the 4th millennium BC. He was the successor to the Protodynastic king Ka. Many scholars consider him the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt. He also had a prominently noticeable presence in Canaan, compared to his predecessors and successors. Neithhotep is thought to be his queen consort or his daughter. A majority of Egyptologists believe that Narmer was the same person as Menes. Historical identity Although highly interrelated, the questions of "who was Menes?" and "who unified Egypt?" are actually two separate issues. Narmer is often credited with the unification of Egypt by means of the conquest of Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt. Menes is traditionally considered the first king/pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and is identified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthritis
Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In certain types of arthritis, other organs such as the skin are also affected. Onset can be gradual or sudden. There are several types of arthritis. The most common forms are osteoarthritis (most commonly seen in weightbearing joints) and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis usually occurs as an individual ages and often affects the hips, knees, shoulders, and fingers. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that often affects the hands and feet. Other types of arthritis include gout, lupus, and septic arthritis. These are inflammatory based types of rheumatic disease. Early treatment for arthritis commonly includes resting the affected joint and conservative measures such as heating or icing. Weight Weight ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
