The electric rays are a group of
rays, flattened
cartilaginous fish
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. ...
with enlarged
pectoral fin
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...
s, composing the order Torpediniformes . They are known for being capable of producing an
electric discharge, ranging from 8 to 220
volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827).
Defin ...
s, depending on species, used to stun prey and for defense.
There are 69 species in four families.
Perhaps the best known members are those of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, ...
''. The
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, ...
undersea weapon is named after it. The name comes from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, 'to be stiffened or paralyzed', from the effect on someone who touches the fish.
Description
Electric rays have a rounded pectoral disc with two moderately large rounded-angular (not pointed or hooked)
dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...
s (reduced in some
Narcinidae
Narcinidae, or numbfishes, are a family of electric rays (order Torpediniformes). They are bottom-dwelling cartilaginous fishes with large, rounded pectoral fin discs and long tails. They can produce an electric discharge for defense, from which ...
), and a stout muscular tail with a well-developed
caudal fin
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...
. The body is thick and flabby, with soft loose skin with no
dermal denticle
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as ...
s or thorns. A pair of
kidney
The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...
-shaped
electric organ
An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since develope ...
s are at the base of the pectoral fins. The snout is broad, large in the Narcinidae, but reduced in all other families. The mouth,
nostril
A nostril (or naris , plural ''nares'' ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbi ...
s, and five pairs of
gill slit
Gill slits are individual openings to gills, i.e., multiple gill arches, which lack a single outer cover. Such gills are characteristic of cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays, as well as deep-branching vertebrates such as lampreys. In co ...
s are underneath the disc.
Electric rays are found from shallow coastal waters down to at least deep. They are sluggish and slow-moving, propelling themselves with their tails, not by using their pectoral fins as other rays do. They feed on invertebrates and small fish. They lie in wait for prey below the sand or other substrate, using their electricity to stun and capture it.
Relationship to humans
History of research
The electrogenic properties of electric rays have been known since antiquity, although their nature was not understood. The ancient Greeks used electric rays to numb the pain of
childbirth
Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births glob ...
and operations.
In his dialogue ''
Meno
''Meno'' (; grc-gre, Μένων, ''Ménōn'') is a Socratic dialogue by Plato. Meno begins the dialogue by asking Socrates whether virtue is taught, acquired by practice, or comes by nature. In order to determine whether virtue is teachabl ...
'',
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
has the character Meno accuse
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...
of "stunning" people with his puzzling questions, in a manner similar to the way the
torpedo fish stuns with electricity.
Scribonius Largus, a Roman physician, recorded the use of torpedo fish for treatment of
headache
Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches.
Headaches can occur as a result ...
s and
gout
Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intens ...
in his ''Compositiones Medicae'' of 46 AD.
In the 1770s the electric organs of the torpedo ray were the subject of
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
papers by
John Walsh, and
John Hunter. These appear to have influenced the thinking of
Luigi Galvani
Luigi Galvani (, also ; ; la, Aloysius Galvanus; 9 September 1737 – 4 December 1798) was an Italian physician, physicist, biologist and philosopher, who studied animal electricity. In 1780, he discovered that the muscles of dead frogs' legs ...
and
Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist, chemist and lay Catholic who was a pioneer of electricity and power who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and th ...
– the founders of electrophysiology and electrochemistry.
Henry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish ( ; 10 October 1731 – 24 February 1810) was an English natural philosopher and scientist who was an important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist. He is noted for his discovery of hydrogen, which he termed "infl ...
proposed that electric rays use electricity; he built an artificial ray consisting of fish shaped
Leyden jar
A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It ty ...
s to successfully mimic their behaviour in 1773.
In folklore
The torpedo fish, or electric ray, appears continuously in premodern natural histories as a magical creature, and its ability to numb fishermen without seeming to touch them was a significant source of evidence for the belief in
occult qualities in nature during the ages before the discovery of electricity as an explanatory mode.
Bioelectricity
The electric rays have specialised
electric organs
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
. Many species of rays and skates outside the family have electric organs in the tail; however, the electric ray has two large kidney-shaped electric organs on each side of its head, where current passes from the lower to the upper surface of the body. The nerves that signal the organ to discharge branch repeatedly, then attach to the lower side of each plaque in the batteries.
These are composed of hexagonal columns, closely packed in a honeycomb formation. Each column consists of 500 to more than 1000 plaques of modified striated muscle, adapted from the
branchial (gill arch) muscles.
In marine fish, these batteries are connected as a parallel circuit, whereas freshwater batteries are arranged in series. This allows freshwater rays to transmit discharges of higher voltage, as freshwater cannot conduct electricity as well as saltwater.
With such a battery, an electric ray may electrocute larger prey with a voltage of between 8 volts in some narcinids to 220 volts in ''
Torpedo nobiliana'', the Atlantic torpedo.
Systematics
The 60 or so species of electric rays are grouped into 12 genera and two families.
The Narkinae are sometimes elevated to a family, the Narkidae. The torpedinids feed on large prey, which are stunned using their electric organs and swallowed whole, while the narcinids specialize on small prey on or in the bottom substrate. Both groups use electricity for defense, but it is unclear whether the narcinids use electricity in feeding.
[Compagno, Leonard J.V. and Heemstra, Phillip C. (May 2007)]
Electrolux addisoni, a new genus and species of electric ray from the east coast of South Africa (Rajiformes: Torpedinoidei: Narkidae), with a review of torpedinoid taxonomy
. ''Smithiana, Publications in Aquatic Biodiversity, Bulletin 7'': 15-49. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
* Family
Narcinidae
Narcinidae, or numbfishes, are a family of electric rays (order Torpediniformes). They are bottom-dwelling cartilaginous fishes with large, rounded pectoral fin discs and long tails. They can produce an electric discharge for defense, from which ...
(numbfishes)
** Subfamily
Narcininae
*** Genus ''
Benthobatis
''Benthobatis'' is a genus of fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct r ...
''
*** Genus ''
Diplobatis''
*** Genus ''
Discopyge''
*** Genus ''
Narcine''
** Subfamily
Narkinae (sleeper rays)
*** Genus ''
Crassinarke
The sleeper torpedo (''Crassinarke dormitor'') is a species of electric ray in the family Narkidae. It is the only species in its genus. It occurs in relatively shallow water off the coasts of southern Japan, China and Taiwan
Taiwan, o ...
''
*** Genus ''
Electrolux
Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool.
Electrolux products sell under a variety ...
''
*** Genus ''
Heteronarce''
*** Genus ''
Narke''
*** Genus ''
Temera''
*** Genus ''
Typhlonarke''
* Family
Hypnidae (coffin rays)
** Subfamily
Hypninae (coffin rays)
*** Genus ''
Hypnos
In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: means 'sleep') also spelled Hypnus is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was a dear ...
''
* Family
Torpedinidae (torpedo electric rays)
** Subfamily
Torpedininae
*** Genus ''
Tetronarce
''Tetronarce'' is a genus of rays, commonly known as electric rays. They are slow-moving bottom-dwellers capable of generating electricity as a defense and feeding mechanism. ''Tetronarce'' species tend to attain a much larger size (up to 180&n ...
''
*** Genus ''
Torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, ...
''
See also
*
Endangered rays
*
Electric fish
An electric fish is any fish that can generate electric fields. Most electric fish are also electroreceptive, meaning that they can sense electric fields. The only exception is the stargazer family. Electric fish, although a small minority, inc ...
References
{{Authority control
Electroreceptive animals
Rays
Electric fish
Extant Eocene first appearances
Taxa named by Fernando de Buen y Lozano