The Electric Eel is a most unusual fish. It is capable of generating electric shocks (up to 500 volts) and it uses this capability for self-defense as well as for hunting. In South America, in the Amazon River and Orinoco River, the Eel thrives. The depleted oxygen content affects it little and it is a dangerous predator in these waters. Although it lives on the muddy bottom of the rivers, they do surface every ten minutes or so to breathe. The most common size of an Eel is around 1 meter, although they can grow to twice that size.