新奇事件簿 亚马孙河流域发现电鳗新品种（在线收听）

Scientists have discovered a new species of electric eel that is truly shocking. In fact, it is the most shocking creature in the world. The new eel was discovered in the Amazon. It is capable of giving someone an electric shock that is nearly eight times stronger than the electricity found in the wall socket of an American home. The eel is 2.4 meters long, weighs 45kgs, and can discharge a shock of 860 volts. Appliances in American homes need just 110 volts of electricity. The eel has enough power to give a human a severe electric shock. It is possible the shock could kill a human. The scientists wrote in the journal Nature Communications that the eel is "the strongest living bio-electricity generator".

科学家发现了一种令人震惊的电鳗新品种。事实上，这是是世界上最令人震惊的生物。这种新鳗鱼发现于亚马孙河。它对人类可释放的电击强度几乎是美国家用壁式插座电力的八倍。这种鳗鱼长2.4米，重45千克，并且能释放860伏特的电流。美国家用电器仅需110伏特的电力。这种鳗鱼有足够的能量给予人类一次剧烈的电击。这种电击可能是致命的。科学家们在《Nature Communications》期刊上写到，这种鳗鱼是“现存最强大的生物发电机”

Scientists have named the new eel Electrophorus voltai. The team of researchers actually found two new species of electric eel, but Electrophorus voltai is grabbing the headlines because of its electrical power. Up until the two recent discoveries, scientists believed there was only one electric eel in existence. Lead researcher Dr David de Santana said he would not be surprised to find more new species. He wrote: "If you can discover a new 2.4m-long fish after 250 years of exploration, can you imagine what remains to be discovered in that region?" He added: "The discovery...in Amazonia, one of the planet's biodiversity hot spots, is suggestive of the vast amount of species that remain to be discovered in nature."

科学家们已经将该鳗鱼新品种命名为伏打电鳗。研究团队其中发现了两种新电鳗，但伏打电鳗因其电力而成为新闻头条。直到最近的两项发现之前，科学家们一直认为世界上只存在一种电鳗。首席研究员大卫·德·桑塔纳博士表示，他对发现更多的新物种并不感到惊讶。他写道：“如果在经过250年的探索后，你发现了一种新的2.4米长的鱼，那么你能想象在这个地区还会发现什么吗？”他补充道：“在亚马孙流域这个地球上生物多样性最丰富的地区之一的发现，表明自然界中还有大量物种有待发现。”