---
title: "What the sources say about the Great Torpedo Ray | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "41 claims from the Great Torpedo Ray profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Great Torpedo Ray (*Tetronarce nobiliana*)

> 41 claims from the Great Torpedo Ray profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Great Torpedo Ray](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/torpedo-ray/)

## Atlantic Torpedo. Florida Museum of Natural History.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/torpedo-nobiliana/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| 170-to-220-volt shocks from a honeycomb of barely visible electric organs | giving the skin a honeycomb-like appearance ... delivering a powerful electric shock of 170-220 volts from the electric organs |
| barely visible electric organs | Kidney-shaped electric organs on either side of its head are barely visible in the pectoral fins |
| jaws that stretch to swallow surprisingly big fish | This ray can distend its jaws allowing it to swallow fishes larger than thought possible based on the width of the mouth when closed. |
| Twin kidney-shaped electric organs that fire 170 to 220 volts | Kidney-shaped electric organs on either side of its head are barely visible in the pectoral fins ... jolt ranging from 170-220 volts |
| enough to stun or kill a fish and, from a large adult, to disable a person. | A large adult Atlantic torpedo can deliver a painful and stunning electric charge strong enough to disable a person ... produce a charge that will stun or kill a fish before the torpedo eats it |
| Soft seabeds and coral reefs as a juvenile, the water column as an adult, across the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean down to 800 meters | The range of this torpedo in the eastern Atlantic region is from Scotland south to Morocco including the Mediterranean Sea but absent in the Black Sea ... Adults are semi-pelagic to pelagic living in the water column at 7-2,625 feet (2-800 m) depths. Juveniles are benthic and live over soft bottom and coral reef habitats. |
| Large bottom-dwelling and open-water fish, including sharks, dogfish, flounder and mullet | feeds primarily on large benthic and pelagic fish including sharks, dogfish, flounder, and mullet |
| Two kidney-shaped electric organs sit inside the pectoral fins on either side of its head | Kidney-shaped electric organs on either side of its head are barely visible in the pectoral fins |
| giving the skin a honeycomb-like appearance | giving the skin a honeycomb-like appearance |
| They deliver a shock of 170 to 220 volts. | delivering a powerful electric shock of 170-220 volts from the electric organs |
| A large adult's shock is strong enough to disable a person | A large adult Atlantic torpedo can deliver a painful and stunning electric charge strong enough to disable a person. (note: body; with the next claim, what stats.dangerLevel: High rests on (Extreme to High in #277). The page's 'Danger to Humans' section puts the threat to life in becoming disoriented underwater, and calls cardiac arrest extremely unlikely: a disabling shock, not 'Severe injury likely on contact') |
| though it is extremely unlikely to stop a human heart | it is extremely unlikely that the electric charge could lead to cardiac arrest or ventricular fibrillation in humans |
| The maximum reported length of an Atlantic torpedo ray is 180 cm (70.9 in), and the maximum published weight is 90 kg (198 lb). | The maximum reported size of the Atlantic torpedo is 70.9 inches (180 cm) total length with a maximum published weight of 198 pounds (90.0 kg). |
| They are usually 0.6 to 1.5 m long and seem heavy for their size. | Specimens are usually 2-5 feet (0.6-1.5 m) in length and seem heavy for their size. |
| It prefers soft seabeds or coral reefs, where it can ambush prey. | This migratory ray prefers soft bottoms or coral reefs where it can ambush prey |
| It wraps a fish in its pectoral fins and shocks it, which stuns or kills the fish before the torpedo eats it. | It catches and envelops fish with its pectoral fins, delivering a powerful electric shock ... produce a charge that will stun or kill a fish before the torpedo eats it (note: also what the predator tag rests on (#277). It replaces apex-predator ('no natural predators as adults'): the same page says 'This ray has few natural predators' and sharks 'seldom confront electric rays', and few is not none) |
| Its jaws can distend, or stretch wide, letting it swallow fish bigger than its closed mouth makes seem possible. | This ray can distend its jaws allowing it to swallow fishes larger than thought possible based on the width of the mouth when closed. |
| It eats mostly large bottom-dwelling and open-water fish, including sharks, dogfish, flounder and mullet. | feeds primarily on large benthic and pelagic fish including sharks, dogfish, flounder, and mullet |
| This ray lives in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, from Scotland south to Morocco, though not in the Black Sea. | The range of this torpedo in the eastern Atlantic region is from Scotland south to Morocco including the Mediterranean Sea but absent in the Black Sea. |
| It also lives from Mauritania to the Gulf of Guinea, and from Namibia to South Africa. | It also lives from Cap Blanc in Mauritania to the Gulf of Guinea, São Tomé Island, Walvis Bay, and Namibia to Mossel Bay in South Africa. |
| Adults live up in the water column, from 2 to 800 meters deep. Juveniles live on the bottom, over soft seabeds and coral reefs. The species is reported to migrate long distances. | Adults are semi-pelagic to pelagic living in the water column at 7-2,625 feet (2-800 m) depths. Juveniles are benthic and live over soft bottom and coral reef habitats. This species reportedly migrates over long distances. |
| It has few natural predators due to its electric power and large size. Sharks and other large meat-eating fish seldom take on electric rays. | This ray has few natural predators due to its formidable electric capabilities and large size. Predators such as sharks and other large carnivorous fishes seldom confront electric rays. |
| In ancient Greek and Roman times, its shock was used to treat gout (a painful joint disease), headaches and other illnesses. | In Roman and Greek ancient times, the electrical shock of the Atlantic torpedo was used to treat gout, headache, and other maladies. |
| A torpedo ray is ovoviviparous, which means its babies grow inside the mother's body. They feed first on yolk, then on a rich fluid called uterine "milk" enriched with mucus, fat and protein. | The reproductive mode of this ray is ovoviviparous with embryos feeding initially on yolk, then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine “milk” that is enriched with mucus, fat and protein. |
| Pregnancy is thought to last about a year. | it is thought that the gestation period is approximately a year in length |
| A female can give birth to as many as 60 pups, each about 20 cm (8 in) long. | Each female releases up to 60 young at what is believe to be an offshore location. The young are about 8 inches (20 cm) in length at birth. |
| A large adult Atlantic torpedo ray can deliver a jolt of 170 to 220 volts, strong enough to disable a person. | A large adult Atlantic torpedo can deliver a painful and stunning electric charge strong enough to disable a person. The primary threat to life is becoming disoriented underwater after receiving the jolt ranging from 170-220 volts. |
| The main threat to life is becoming disoriented underwater after being shocked. It is extremely unlikely the charge could stop a human heart. | The primary threat to life is becoming disoriented underwater after receiving the jolt ranging from 170-220 volts. However, it is extremely unlikely that the electric charge could lead to cardiac arrest or ventricular fibrillation in humans. |
| In ancient Greek and Roman times, people used the electrical shock of the Atlantic torpedo to treat gout, headaches and other ailments. | In Roman and Greek ancient times, the electrical shock of the Atlantic torpedo was used to treat gout, headache, and other maladies. |
| a 170-to-220-volt jolt | receiving the jolt ranging from 170-220 volts (note: vibe.reason (#277)) |

## Bennett, Wurzel & Grundfest (1961). The Electrophysiology of Electric Organs of Marine Electric Fishes. The Journal of General Physiology.

https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.44.4.757

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Scientists studied the organs in rays brought to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in the summers of 1958 and 1959. | Four specimens of T. nobiliana were brought to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole in each of the summers of 1958 and 1959. ... Each of the fish lived for 3 to 4 weeks in captivity, although they had all refused food and were subjected several times to biopsy for removing parts of the electric organ. |
| Their paper describes each organ as 500 to 1,000 columns of flat cells called electroplaques, stacked one above the other. | The wafer-like electroplaques have large surfaces ... stacked like a roll of coins one above the other in a column ... between 500 and 1000 columns in each bilateral organ |
| flat cells called electroplaques | These properties are also found in Torpedo electroplaques. Special anatomical features such as the large size of the cells |
| The voltages of the cells in one column add together, which scientists call series summation, like batteries wired in a row. | Series summation of potentials from electroplaques of the same column is illustrated |
| The maximum peak power the team recorded was about 600 watts per organ. | The maximum peak power observed was about 600 watts per organ. |
| Each column of electroplaques runs the full thickness of the fish, and the Woods Hole study says the thickest columns probably hold more than 1,000 cells. | stacked like a roll of coins one above the other in a column which occupies the full thickness of the fish. There are probably more than 1000 ... electroplaques in the thickest columns |
| A study of torpedo rays brought to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1958 and 1959 describes each electric organ as 500 to 1,000 columns of flat cells called electroplaques, stacked like a roll of coins. | The wafer-like electroplaques have large surfaces ... stacked like a roll of coins one above the other in a column ... between 500 and 1000 columns in each bilateral organ ... Four specimens of T. nobiliana were brought to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole in each of the summers of 1958 and 1959. |
| The voltages of the cells in one column add together, which scientists call series summation, the way batteries do when wired in a row. | Series summation of potentials from electroplaques of the same column is illustrated |
| electric organs stack their cells like a roll of coins | stacked like a roll of coins one above the other in a column (note: vibe.reason, settled in #277: replaces 'electrifying distortion shocks, and unstoppable rave energy', which named no mechanism) |
| add them together | Series summation of potentials from electroplaques of the same column is illustrated (note: vibe.reason (#277)) |

## Finucci et al. (2021). Tetronarce nobiliana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T116861529A116861706.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2021-2.rlts.t116861529a116861706.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The IUCN Red List rates the Atlantic torpedo as a species of Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |