Electric Fishes Demonstration Lab

This exhibit at the Amazonia House of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is a multi-sensory lab, home to a 5-foot-long electric eel and a number of other species of electric fishes.

One of the most popular displays is a bronze life-sized model of an eel built as an approximation of a 3D digital model I created. When visitors hold the head and tail simultaneously, their bodies complete the electric circuit and the fish model vibrates! At the same time plays an animation video highlighting the animals’ special anatomy that allows some species to discharge over 800 volts of electricity. Elsewhere in the exhibition are panels with my illustrations and two additional animations that emphasize the differences between pulse and wave types of electric fishes.