Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 



lOI 



near Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were estimated long ago 

 by a fisherman of keen observation as reaching 170 to 200 pounds.'^ 



Developmental Stages. The number of young has not been recorded for any 

 American specimen.^" The disc of an embryo about 140 mm long, taken from a female 

 that was landed at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is deeply notched on both sides about 

 opposite the mouth, marking the anterior limits of the pectorals. At this stage, still 



Figure 23. Torpedo nobiliana, embryo, 159 mm long, 

 from Woods Hole, Mass. (Harv. Mus. Corap. ZooL, 

 No. 1016), about 0.9 natural size. 



considerably previous to birth, the posterior margins of the pectorals merge insensibly 

 with the sides of the trunk, the pelvics are still small, and the curtain-like expansion of 

 the anterior margins of the nostrils has not developed and hence the entire lengths of 

 the nasal openings are freely exposed. But the caudal is already of approximately adult 

 form, the relative sizes of the dorsals are already established, the eyes and spiracles 

 are approximately of adult proportions, and the older series of teeth already have cusps. 

 The embryo lies in the uterus with the tail bent forward ventrally and the caudal fin 

 flat against the left-hand pectoral (Fig. 23). 



79. This estimate by Captain N. E. Atwood, first quoted by Storer (Amer. J. Sci., 4$, 1843: 167), has been the basis 

 for many subsequent statements that this Torpedo reaches a weight of 200 pounds. 



80. A European female has been described as having 60 embryos (Dumeril, Hist. Nat. Poiss., i, 1865: 512, by ref. 

 to Bonaparte [probably Obs. sur la torpille, Actes i Congr. Pise, 1840; 18; not seen]). However, this number is 

 much larger than that reported for other Torpedoes. 



