Can fish detect electricity in water?

I have been studying fish feeding behaviour for years and I have come to the conclusion;

Yes they all can (to varying degrees), shark and rays and catfish in particular it has been proven; can detect the tiny electrical fields from prey fish buried in the sand. But what about freshwater fish like carp, barbel, chub, roach, bream, trout, minnows... can they also detect electrical signals do you think?

From just a quick search on the net, it appears that a limited number of fish species can detect tiny electrical fields (including those that you have mentioned) but i can find no evidence suggesting that our native species can. Having said that i cannot find any studies to the contrary either.

I think they possibly can when zapped by an electric eel.

The Yanks think so. When they are deep trolling with wire lines on downriggers they have all sorts of gizmos to neutralise the electricity created by this gear.

electro fishing...the ea do it all the while to survey all species in this country, so the certainly feel something.

Yes nicepics, they got the idea from using sacrificial zinc keels on their boats

Most of the research in this area seems to be focused on sea species but thats not to say their freshwater counterparts cant detect electricity too.
Studies on eels, catfish and lamprey have usually focused on their ability to detect prey or for navigation.
Bees can detect electrostatic charges on pollen (mechano- reception), pigeons use it for navigation (magnetoception), cockroaches avoid it and Humans can sense a 'closeness' just before a storm, evidence suggests we also use magnetoception? but in the context of detecting electricity the key to it all is water or humidity, ever had a jolt from a piece of tin foil from a kitkat on your filling? the saliva (electrolyte) helps conduct electricity, dirty water conducts electricity.. in fact anything other than pure water will allow an electric current to flow.

Its probably no coincidence that sea fish species have evolved much more than freshwater species - seawater is a better conductor!

its the minerals!

Hardly tiny electrical impulses I know but I've heard tales of lightning striking water and all the fish literally leaping from the surface... not sure whether that's true or not but I reckon it'd make me jump

The electromagnetic field given off by a bait may well influence catches...............

If electricity always follows the least path of resistance why aren't all lightning strikes in France.............

barbelboi said:

The electromagnetic field given off by a bait may well influence catches...............

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Much has been discussed by pike anglers about the distress signals given out by livebaits...

barbelboi said:

If electricity always follows the least path of resistance why aren't all lightning strikes in France.............

Click to expand...

barbelboi said:

The electromagnetic field given off by a bait may well influence catches...............

Click to expand...

If true then other charged objects within this field will also experience the force (including the fish within its field perhaps?) if charges and currents are comparable in size within the proximity of the bait (the source) producing the electromagnetic field, then a new net electromagnetic field will be produced. You could think of it in terms of planets influencing each other in space...

A live maggot, worm or livebait could produce it and influence a fish to bite but what about the minerals in a boilie or pellet?

A question for bait box perhaps? :wh
But if you consider adding the missing component that seawater has - minerals...
Electrolytes are present in our baits, they important for all living creatures and are essential for life including fish too. The electrolyte minerals include: sodium, potassium, chloride and magnesium.

These minerals are referred to as electrolytes as they all conduct electricity when dissolved in water - some negative some positive.

If electricity always follows the least path of resistance why aren't all lightning strikes in France.............

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I think you'll find the French have being zapped on more than one occasion