FAMILY, III— TORPEDINID^. 733 



Family, III— TORPEDINID^. 



Trunk broad and disk smooth. Anterior nasal valves confluent and forming a quadrangular flap. 

 Tail with a rayed dorsal (except in Temera) and caudal fin : also a longitudinal fold along either side. An 

 electric organ* situated between the pectoral fin and the head. 



Qeographical distrihutim.—Tvo^icsX, sub-tropical and temperate seas. In India they do not appear to be 

 used as food. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Narcvne. Two dorsal fins : spiracles immediately behind the eyes, p. ?33. 



2. Astrape. One dorsal fin, p. 733. 



Genus, 1— Naecine, Senle. 



Dish distinct from the tail, which has a lateral fold on either side and is longer tham the dish. Spiracles close 

 behind the eyes: nasal valves confluent, forming a quadrangular flap. Teeth nearly flat, with a central point. Two 

 dorsal fins, the anterior behind the ventrals and usually smaller than the posterior. An electric apparatus present. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical and sub-tropical seas. 



1. Narcine timlei, Plate CXCII, fig. 3. 



Baja timlei, Bl. Schn. p. 359. 



Baja, Russell, Fish. Vizag. i, pp. 1 and 2, and Temeree, pi. i, and Nalla Temeree, pi. ii. 



Narcine iimlen,, B.erAe, Narcine, p. 34, t. ii, f. 1 ; Miill. and Henle, p. 130; Bleeker, Beng. 80, and 

 Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind. iv, 1853, p. 612 ; Dum^ril, Rev. Zool. 1862, p. 273, and Hist. Nat. Poiss. i, p. 619 ; Kner, 

 Novara Fische, p. 417; Gunther, Catal. viii, p. 462. 



Narcine Indica, Henle, Narcin. p. 36, pi. ii, fig. 2 ; Miill. and Henle, p. 130 ; Bleeker, Beng. p. 80 ; 

 Dumeril, 1. c. ; Cantor, Catal. Mai. Fish. p. 417 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 148; Day, Fish. Mai. p. 276. 



Na/rdne microphthahna, maorwra and maculata, Dumeril, Rev. Zool. 1852, pp. 274, 276, 277, and Hist. 

 Nat. Poiss. i, p. 618. 



Outline of disk somewhat rounded, while it is broader than long : along the side of the tail is a broad 

 skinny keel reaching the base of the caudal fin. Caudal portion of fish rather longer than the body. Nasal 

 valves confluent, forming a quadrangular skinny flap which is rather elongated in the middle. Spiracle just 

 behind the orbit and not tubereulated on the edge. Teeth — flattened anteriorly, the internal ones with a small 

 median cusp : the dental plate only embraces the central half of either jaw, the Ups being thickened and 

 continuous at the angles. The form of the dental plate varies, being either angular in the mandible the angle 

 pointing downwards or similar to what obtains in the upper jaw. .Fms — the anterior dorsal usually commences 

 just behind the ventrals but occasionally over their posterior extremity, it is somewhat smaller than the 

 posterior : in the young its apex forms an angle, which in the adult becomes rounded. The distance between 

 the two dorsals equals that between the posterior dorsal and the caudal. The size and shape of the two dorsals 

 is similar. Caudal with its hinder edge rounded and confluent with the inferior. Colours — body and fins 

 reddish-brown above, with numerous irregularly sized chocolate-coloured spots : lower surface white. Pupil 

 triangular, apex below. Iris golden. In the immature the spots have a white margin. Some examples are 

 marked all over with large brown blotches much wider than the ground colours. In others no spots at all 

 exist. These differences in colour do not depend on sex, age, or locality. 



Habitat. — Seas of India and the Malay Archipelago. It attains at least eighteen inches in length. 

 " Out of the water they may be handled with impunity." — Cantor. 



Genus, II — Asteapi, Milller and Henle. 



Tail with a fold on either side. Spiracles close behind the eyes, which last ctre minute. Nasal valves 

 confluent, forming a large quadrangular flap. Teeth flattened or with a central elevation, the dental plate extending 

 slightly beyond the outer edge of the jaws. A single dorsal fin on the tail : caudal well developed. An electric 

 apparatus on the side of the head between it and the pectoral fm. 



Geographical distribution. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and China, also the Cape of Good 

 Hope and Madagascar. 



* For a description of the pecnliar "Appareil follionlaire nerveux" of the Torpedo not possessed by other Plagiostomata nor 

 by Qymnotus or Melapterwms, &e., see Boll, in Arch. Anat. Phys. Berl. 1875 ; and on the immunity of this fish from a self-inflicted 

 shock, J. Stfeiner, Arch. Anat. Phys. 1874. 



