168 



UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



and flatfish, that they are known to eat. They swim feebly with sculling motions 

 of the tail, using the stiff pectorals only sparingly, if at all. 



Electric rays are among the laziest of fishes. They lie buried in sand or mud 

 most of the time. They are found in shallow and deep waters of all temperate 

 and tropical seas, mostly over soft bottoms. They are ovoviviparous and range 

 in size from a foot in length to 6 feet and 200 pounds. 



ELECTRIC RAYS: Family Torpedinidae 



TORPEDO (electric RAY, NUMBFISH, crampfish) : ToYfedo nohiUana 



Size: Matures at 2 feet. Up to 5 to 6 feet long. 



Weight: Averages 30 to 75 pounds. Up to 200 pounds. 



Distribution: Both sides of North Adantic from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras 

 (rarely Cuba) and from Scotland to west Africa. Nowhere plentiful. 



Identification: The disc is very wide and round and about one-half the total 

 length. The color is chocolate to purplish brown, sometimes with obscure 

 dark spots. 



Habits: Little is known other than the general information given above. This 

 is one of the most electrically powerful of the electric rays. It is known to eat 



Fig. 75. Torpedo ray. 



large and even active fish such as salmon, eels, and flatfishes, a support for the 

 argument that electric rays use their electric powers to secure food. 



Similar Sfecies: The California electric ray, Torpedo californica, is found 

 from British Columbia to southern California and is locally plentiful in moderate 

 depths. It reaches a length of 3 feet and a weight of 50 pounds. 



The litde electric ray or crampfish, Narcine braziliensis, belongs to a genus 

 of small rays which has oval discs, not nearly as blunt anteriorly as the torpedoes. 

 They have a mottled coloration which blends with the sand, resembling the 



