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How do electric fish communicate in muddy water or at night?

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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: herd of gnu (wildebeests) — Animal social behavior Herd of gnu (wildebeests) in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Electric fish, such as the mormyrids of Africa and the gymnotids of South America, have evolved specialized mechanisms to communicate and navigate in environments like the Amazon or Nile rivers, where vision is often impossible due to murky water or darkness.1

These fish possess specialized electric organs in their tails that emit continuous, weak electrical discharges, creating an electric field around their bodies. They detect these fields and any distortions caused by objects or other fish using specialized tuberous electroreceptors embedded in their skin.1234

For social interaction, these fish use their electric signals to convey complex information. By modulating the repetition rates and patterns of their discharges, they can engage in sophisticated exchanges related to:3

Aggression and territorial defense: Signaling threats or dominance.14
Courtship: Attracting mates.14
Social recognition: Identifying the species, sex, or individual identity of other fish.3

Because these tuberous receptors are tuned to specific discharge rates, the fish can effectively filter and interpret these signals even in challenging environments.4