Marbled electric ray

How it lives

It lies partly buried by day with only its eyes and spiracles showing, and hunts at night (Oceana and FishBase). The electric organs can discharge 70 to 80 volts in measurements, with up to 200 volts estimated. Mating is from November to January, and gestation is 9 to 12 months. Litters are 3 to 32 pups, and newborns are 10 to 14 cm long. Males mature at about 5 years and females at about 12 years.

Where it goes

No long migrations are described in the sources opened. It is a nocturnal, solitary ray that buries itself in sand or sediment by day. FishBase says it avoids temperatures above 20 C. Reported depths are 10 to 30 m off Britain and Ireland, 20 to 100 m off Italy and down to 200 m off Tunisia, with a deepest record of 370 m (Wikipedia).

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Vulnerable (IUCN, assessed August 2020 per FishBase). Wikipedia says it is still the most common electric ray in the northern Mediterranean. It is caught as bycatch in bottom fisheries and is mostly discarded, and the effect on populations is uncertain. Oceana names incidental capture as the main threat. No population number was found in the sources opened.