Electric eel lights up Tennessee Aquarium's Christmas tree

Visitors to the Tennessee Aquarium may be shocked to learn that an electric eel named Miguel Wattson is lighting up a Christmas tree. A special system connected to Miguel’s tank enables his shocks to power strands of lights on a nearby tree, according to a news release. The aquarium hopes the Christmas tree will spark love and appreciation for the unusual freshwater fish.

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Miguel releases low-voltage blips of electricity when he is trying to find food, aquarist Kimberly Hurt said. That translates to a rapid, dim blinking of the Christmas lights. When he is eating or excited he emits higher voltage shocks which cause bigger flashes. Wattson has his own account on micro-blogging site Twitter where he shares tweets generated by his sparky self, courtesy of coding by Tennessee Tech University’s iCube centre. The video has garnered over 26,000 views.

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“They combined electrical engineering and emerging business communication to give the eel a voice,” center director Kevin Liska previously said in a aquarium statement. In between Miguel’s tweets boasting statements like “SHAZAM!!!!” and “ka-BLAMEROO!!!!!,” a video posted to the account shows Miguel shaking in his tank as lights on the nearby tree sputter on and off.

Here are some reactions to the video on Twitter

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(With AP inputs)