WASHINGTON — Scientists have discovered that electric eels living deep in the Brazlian Amazon River basin work together to hunt their prey.<br /><br />They made the observation in a small lake along the banks of the Iriri River, according to a press release from the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.<br /><br />At dawn and dusk, packs of eels would rise and begin swimming in large circles to herd shoals of thousands of 1-to-2-inch tetras.<br /><br />With their prey corralled into a tightly packed ball, two of the eels would split off from the main group and shock the tetras. The entire pack would then move in and feast on the fish.<br /><br />The scientists noted in the press release that this behavior is similar to that of dogs and killer whales — and quite rare in fishes.<br /><br />C. David de Santana, who led the researchers, previously made headlines by discovering that electric eels — which are technically not eels but more closely related to carp and catfish — are not one but three distinct species.
