Caribbean Electric Ray
Narcine bancroftii
Giant Electric Ray
Narcine entemedor
About
The giant electric ray is a numbfish of the eastern Pacific, growing to about 119 cm and found from the Gulf of California to Panama. It spends its days buried in sand and comes out at night to hunt, carrying a shock strong enough to stop most predators in their tracks.
Also known as: cortez electric ray
- Length
- 1.2 m
- Depth
- up to 100 m
How to tell it apart
Unlike stingrays, which trail a long whip-like tail with a spine, this ray has a short, stout tail with two dorsal fins and no spine - a safe way to tell the two apart at a glance.
Appearance
Its pectoral fins form a round, flat disc, as long as it is wide, that overlaps the base of its large pelvic fins. The eyes are much smaller than the openings behind them. Colour runs grey-tan to brown on top, and some rays show faint paired eyespots. The short, thick tail matches the disc in length, has loose folds of skin along its sides, and carries two equal-sized dorsal fins with fine white edges.
Did you know?
When threatened, this ray erupts from the sand, arches its back, and performs a somersault in the water - in one recorded case, it landed on a diver's back and delivered a shock.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
