Marbled electric ray

📖 Overview

Occurs in seagrass areas, rocky reefs, and adjacent soft bottoms . Avoids temperatures above 20°C . Nocturnal, usually burying itself during the day with only the eyes and spiracle jutting out . Feeds on small benthic fishes Trachurus, Mugil, Mullus, Dicentrarchus, Spondyliosoma, Boops, Labrus, Dascyllus, Pomacentrus) and crustaceans . Females outlive males; viviparous, neonates measuring 10-14 cm at birth . Produces 2-32 pups in a litter after a 10-month gestation. Males reaches maturity at ca. 30 cm TL, females at ca. 40 cm TL; born at 10-14 cm TL . Electrocytes start developing when the embryo weighs about 1 g; electric organs functional before birth and newborns can use their electric organ discharge (EOD) in capturing prey . Can produce electric discharges of up to 200 volts; EOD frequency up to 600 Hz. Jumps on fast-moving prey, paralyzing it with its EOD .

🔬 Taxonomy

🐟 Physical Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Vertebrae: 104 - 108. Disc-width around the same as its length, length and width 1,50 to 1,70 times in total length; dorsal fins more or less rounded, its base 1,50 times in its height .: other; Cross section: flattened.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Marbled electric ray is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

The marbled electric ray is an ambush predator that employs electricity to capture prey. Vision is of little importance in hunting, as the ray's eyes are often obscured as it lies buried on the bottom. Instead, it likely relies on the mechanoreceptors of its lateral line, as it only attacks moving prey. The electroreceptive ampullae of Lorenzini may also contribute to prey detection. Small, benthic bony fishes constitute over 90% of the marbled electric ray's diet by weight; these include gobies, hake, sea bass, mullets, jack mackerel, sea breams, goatfish, damselfish, wrasses, conger eels, and flatfish. Cephalopods such as European squid (Loligo vulgaris) and elegant cuttlefish (Sepia elegans) are a minor secondary food source. There is a single record of an individual that had swallowed a penaeid prawn, Penaeus kerathurus, and a study of captive rays found that they reject live Macropodia crabs. Off southern France, by far the most important prey species is the leaping mullet (Liza saliens). Food items are swallowed whole; there is a record of a ray 41 cm (16 in) long that had consumed a three-bearded rockling (Gaidropsarus vulgaris) 34 cm (13 in) long. Two distinct types of prey capture behavior have been observed in the marbled electric ray. The first is "jumping", used by the ray to attack prey fish that swim close to its head, typically no farther than 4 cm (1.6 in). In the "jump", the ray pulls back its head and then thrusts its disc upwards, reaching about two or three times as high as the prey fish is from the bottom. Simultaneously, it makes a single tail stroke and produces a high-frequency (230–430 Hz, increasing with temperature) burst of electricity. The initial electric burst is very short, containing only 10–64 pulses, but is still strong enough to cause tetanic contraction in the body of the prey fish, often breaking its vertebral column.

🥚 Reproduction

Exhibit ovoviparity (aplacental viviparity), with embryos feeding initially on yolk, then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine fluid enriched with mucus, fat or protein through specialised structures .

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 2 - 370 m . Subtropical; ? - 20°C ; 60°N - 34°S, 19°W - 36°E North Sea and Kattegat) to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; including the Mediterranean Sea.

🌿 Ecology

📐 Morphometrics

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

🛡️ Conservation Assessment

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

🎣 Angling Guide

📊 Population Dynamics

🌐 Names & Taxonomy

Scientific Synonyms

🐠 Related Species

🔍 Similar Species

🗺️ Global Occurrence Map

Occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) - 686 records indexed .

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