Scientists say they have discovered a new genus and species of electric knifefish in the Negro River, Brazil, named Procerusternarchus pixuna is a small fish, measuring between 75 mm to 138 mm and the voltage of electricity that they spend very little that is measured with microvolt, which means that humans can not detect the flow of electricity.
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| Various fews of the newly discovered Procerusternarchus pixuna electric fish are seen in this photo from the University of Massachusetts. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/QNs49p) |
For comparison, the electric eel, a species that is in the same order may issue up to 600 volts of electricity. As with other fish in this genus, Procerusternarchus pixuna use electrical power mainly to find another fish.
According to Professor Cristina Cox Fernandes from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, one of the authors of a paper that describes Procerusternarchus pixuna, the fish was not swimming in swarming. In fact they are away from each other to avoid each power-up. He added that the male and female fish can alter the strength of the flow of electricity so it does not sting each other.
Only two decades ago, there are fewer than 100 documented species of electric fish, but that number rose nearly doubled, according to the scientists. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | VOA NEWS | SCIENCE WORLD REPORT]
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