SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 



43 



Genus TETRONARCE Gill. Torpedoes. 



Large fishes with pectoral fins rounded, so that outHne anterior to ventrals 

 is ahnost circular; tail thick, abruptly tapering from pectorals to caudal; spir- 

 acles large, immediately behind eyes, their edges entire; mouth small, teeth 

 pointed; caudal fin large; ventrals large, separated from pectorals by a deep 

 notch. Two American species, one Californian and the following. {Tetronarce, 

 four-cornered torpedo). 



17. TETRONARCE OCOIDENTALIS (Storer.) 

 "Shock-fish"; Torpedo; Oramp-fish; Electric Ray. 



Torpedo occidentalis Storer, American Journal of Science and Arts, 1843, 165; Massachusetts. Yarrow, 1877 



216; Beaufort. Jenkins, 1887, 84; Beaufort. 

 Tetronarce occidentalis, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 77, pi. xi, fig. 33. 



Diagnosis. — Breadth of disk .75 length of body and equal to distance from front of disk 

 to origin of first dorsal fin; space between eyes and anterior margin of disk about 3 times dia- 

 meter of eye; first dorsal about twice size of second, its origin a little in advance of posterior 

 edge of ventrals; caudal fin triangular, slightly emarginate posteriorly. Color: dark purplish 

 brown above, with darker spots; white below, {occidentalis, western.) 



Fig. 10. Torpedo. Tetronarce occidentalis. 



The torpedo inhabits coastal waters from Cuba northward, and is common 

 in some localities, such as southern Massachusetts. It attains a weight of 100 

 pounds, but specimens weighing more than 75 pounds are rare, and the average 

 is probably under 30 pounds. The fish is able to emit a very strong electric 

 discharge, from a large organ situated on either side just back of the head; the 

 shock from a large fish can knock a man down. 



No collector seems to have actually observed this species in North Carolina 

 waters. Yarrow (1877) reported it at Beaufort, where "the fishermen state 

 they are rarely seen." Jenkins (1887) says: "A fisherman described to me 

 the catching and experimenting with a torpedo". The inquiries of Dr. Coker 

 failed to elicit any positive information as to the occurrence of this fish at Beau- 



