Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator

C. David de Santana; William G. R. Crampton; Casey B. Dillman; Renata G. Frederico; Mark H. Sabaj; Raphael Covain; Jonathan Ready; Jansen Zuanon; Renildo R. de Oliveira; Raimundo N. Mendes-Junior; Douglas A. Bastos; Tulio F. Teixeira; Jan Mol; Willian Ohara; Natalia E. Castro Castro; Luiz A. Peixoto; Cleusa Nagamachi; Leandro Sousa; Luciano F. A. Montag; Frank Ribeiro; Joseph C. Waddell; Nivaldo M. Piorsky; Richard P. Vari; Wolmar B. Wosiacki

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11690-z

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Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator

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Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator

C. David de Santana, William G. R. Crampton, Casey B. Dillman, Renata G. Frederico, Mark H. Sabaj, Raphael Covain, Jonathan Ready, Jansen Zuanon, Renildo R. de Oliveira, Raimundo N. Mendes-Junior, …

Nature communications, v 10(1), pp 4000-10

10 Sep 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11690-z

PMID: 31506444

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Abstract

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Is there only one electric eel species? For two and a half centuries since its description by Linnaeus, Electrophorus electricus has captivated humankind by its capacity to generate strong electric discharges. Despite the importance of Electrophorus in multiple fields of science, the possibility of additional species-level diversity in the genus, which could also reveal a hidden variety of substances and bioelectrogenic functions, has hitherto not been explored. Here, based on overwhelming patterns of genetic, morphological, and ecological data, we reject the hypothesis of a single species broadly distributed throughout Greater Amazonia. Our analyses readily identify three major lineages that diverged during the Miocene and Pliocene-two of which warrant recognition as new species. For one of the new species, we recorded a discharge of 860 V, well above 650 V previously cited for Electrophorus, making it the strongest living bioelectricity generator.

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Title: Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator
Creators: C. David de Santana - National Museum of Natural History
William G. R. Crampton - University of Central Florida
Casey B. Dillman - National Museum of Natural History
Renata G. Frederico - Universidade Federal do Pará
Mark H. Sabaj - Drexel University
Raphael Covain - Natural History Museum of Geneva
Jonathan Ready - Universidade Federal do Pará
Jansen Zuanon - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Renildo R. de Oliveira - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Raimundo N. Mendes-Junior - Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade
Douglas A. Bastos - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Tulio F. Teixeira - Universidade de São Paulo
Jan Mol - Anton de Kom University of Suriname
Willian Ohara - Federal University of Rondônia
Natalia E. Castro Castro - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Luiz A. Peixoto - Universidade de São Paulo
Cleusa Nagamachi - Universidade Federal do Pará
Leandro Sousa - Universidade Federal do Pará
Luciano F. A. Montag - Univ Fed Para, Lab Ecol & Conservacao, Inst Ciencias Biol, Belem, Para, Brazil
Frank Ribeiro - Univ Fed Oeste Para, Inst Ciencias Tecnol Aguas, Campus Amazonia, Santarem, Para, Brazil
Joseph C. Waddell - University of Central Florida
Nivaldo M. Piorsky - Universidade Federal do Maranhão
Richard P. Vari - National Museum of Natural History
Wolmar B. Wosiacki - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Publication Details: Nature communications, v 10(1), pp 4000-10
Publisher: NATURE PORTFOLIO
Number of pages: 10
Grant note: GGI-Peer-2017-149 / Global Genome Initiative Grant 9519-14 / National Geographic from the Committee for Research and Exploration 245622/2012-8; 170009/2015-7; 155877/2018-6 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico Fellowship, CNPq; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPQ); Fundacao de Apoio a Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF) 006.016 / Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservacao da Biodiversidade grant Herbert R. and Evelyn Axelrod Chair in Systematic Ichthyology funds in the Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution DEB-1146374; DEB-1257813 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF) 2016/19075-9 / Sao Paulo Science Foundation-FAPESP/Smithsonian Institution 475013/2012-3 / CNPq Edital Universal grant; Fundacao de Apoio a Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF); Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPQ)
Resource Type: Journal article
Language: English
Academic Unit: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Web of Science ID: WOS:000484991300001
Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85072039162
Other Identifier: 991019330619104721

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web of Science research areas: Evolutionary Biology

Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator

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