A man has been mocked online after sharing the moment he petted a 40-inch electric eel – and appeared shocked that it zapped him.
He was filmed at the Ohio Fish Rescue taking the risky choice of touching the aquatic animal – which he says he had to sign a waiver before doing.
In a clip that has garnered 1.5 million views and 50,000 likes online, the unnamed visitor can be seen steeling himself while looking at the eel, reports What’s The Jam.
READ MORE: Influencer suffering from rare disorder ‘causing her to eat SOIL’
He reaches into the tank and strokes it – before he is, unsurprisingly, zapped.
Despite its rather self-explanatory name, the man appeared stunned that it actually stung him, saying: “Woah, s**t!”
When asked what it felt like, he says he got “dizzy” and adds: “I felt myself lock up and I was like oh s**t, I can’t come back from this.”
In an apparent surprise, he adds: “He just jolted the s**t out of me.”
The electric eel, also known as an Electrophorus, is a neotropical freshwater fish mostly found in South America.
They are known for their ability to stun prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts – which could be deadly for humans.
Captioned: “Are electric eels hyped up too much?” the video has over 50,000 likes and hundreds of comments from baffled viewers.
Mahmoud joked: “That’s why they’re not called ‘Low voltage don’t worry too much I’m a bunch of fun’ fish.”
Jay commented: “Man sees eel… man touches eel… man gets electrocuted by eel… man happy.”
Well… it’s not called a spark eel,” another person pointed out.
One person said: “You guys really shouldn’t play with s**t like that. It could easily end bad.”
Someone else wrote: “WHY.”
Another follower added: “This is how you mess your heart up.”
Someone else commented: “I’m not touching anything that requires me to sign a waiver.”
Cal said: “That was not smart.”
READ MORE: GP goes viral sharing cause of mysterious ‘shooty bum pain’ leaving TikTokkers in agony