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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrate > fishes > Order Rajiformes |
| Numbfish
Narcine sp. Family Torpedinidae updated Aug 08 Where seen? This rather chubby ray with a stumpy tail was seen once at Changi. What are numbfishes? Numbfishes are rays belonging to Family Torpedinidae. Some scientists group these fishes in the Family Narcinidae which according to FishBase has 9 genera and 24 species. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Numbfishes are different from stingrays that belong to the Family Dasyatidae. Features: The numbfish looks very much like other rays: flattened disc-shaped body, taking water in from gill openings on the upperside of the body, expelling water out from gill slits on the underside, large pectoral fins along the body edges, long tail. Unlike stingrays, the numbfish has obvious dorsal and tail fins, and their tails are short and fat and not whip-like as in stingrays. Members of this group also have a pair of kidney-shaped electric organs in their heads that can produce mild to strong electric shocks. Thus their common name. Their scientific name comes from the Greek 'narke' which means 'paralysis'. The eyes are small and the skin soft and loose. What do they eat? Electric rays use their electric power to stun fishes that they eat. While most eat small fishes, some species can stun relatively large fishes that are eaten whole. Some shallow water species spend most of their time buried in the sand with only their nostrils visible. |
 Changi, Jun 05  Short fat tail with dorsal and tail fins. Changi, Jun 05 |
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 Changi, Jun 05 |
 Changi, Jun 05 |
 Changi, Jun 09 |
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| Family
Torpedinidae recorded for Singapore
from Wee Y.C. and Peter K. L. Ng. 1994. A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. *Lim, Kelvin K. P. & Jeffrey K. Y. Low, 1998. A Guide to the Common Marine Fishes of Singapore.
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References
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Periplus Editions. 292 pp.|
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