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Narcine brasiliensis (Olfers, 1831)

Brazilian electric ray
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Narcine brasiliensis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Narcine brasiliensis (Brazilian electric ray)
Narcine brasiliensis
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Torpediniformes (Electric rays) > Narcinidae (Numbfishes)
Etymology: Narcine: Greek, narke = numbness (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 43 m (Ref. 13608). Subtropical; 37°N - 39°S, 98°W - 34°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Espirito Santo, Brazil to northern Argentina (Carvalho, pers. comm.). North Carolina, USA to Florida, northern Gulf of Mexico, central Lesser Antilles and Yucatan (Ref. 26938).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 28.8  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 54.0 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 26340); common length : 35.0 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 650.00 g (Ref. 6902)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

A pale sand-colored ray, often with ellipses of dark spots on dorsal side of rounded disk (Ref. 26938). Grayish to reddish brown, many rounded blotches outlined with blackish spots. Dark bands across tail up to dorsal fin. Snout darkened (Ref. 7251).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits coastal waters, on sand or mud bottoms (Ref. 26340). Common along sandy shorelines, sometimes near coral reefs (Ref. 12951). Aggregates in shallow waters ca. 10-20 m deep during summer and autumn months, dispersing to deeper waters during winter (Ref. 114953). Buries itself with only eyes protruding (Ref. 12951). Nocturnal, moves to shallow bays at night to feed; prefers worms, but may take juvenile snake eels, anemones, and, small crustaceans (Ref. 12951). Produces broods of 4 to 15 young (Ref. 26938). Reaches ca. 45 cm TL. Both sexes mature by 27 cm TL; birth size at ca. 11 cm TL (Ref. 114953). Can discharge between 14 and 37 volts. Contact with the skin can produce a severe electric shock. In addition to the main electric organ, this species possesses a bilateral accessory electric organ (Ref. 10011) speculated to have a possible role in social communication (Ref. 10489). Reported to taste good, but not fished commercially. Traded as an aquarium fish at Ceará, Brazil (Ref. 49392).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Ovoviviparous. Sex ratio of embryos is about one to one, however, small mothers may have predominantly female embryos and that for a given mother, embryos tend to be of one sex (Ref. 46979). Maximum number of embryos per female may reach 15. The young are capable of giving off electric charges even before they are released from the womb (Ref. 46978).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Carvalho, Marcelo | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Near Threatened (NT) (A2d); Date assessed: 01 July 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Other (Ref. 10011)





Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Trophic ecology
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Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | OceanAdapt | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 22.9 - 28, mean 25.6 °C (based on 442 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00605 - 0.02082), b=2.90 (2.73 - 3.07), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Assuming fecundity<100).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (34 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 6.47 [0.67, 106.25] mg/100g; Iron = 0.472 [0.039, 5.319] mg/100g; Protein = 16.6 [12.4, 21.0] %; Omega3 = 0.145 [0.049, 0.421] g/100g; Selenium = 14.3 [2.3, 70.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 22.2 [1.8, 283.1] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.82 [0.06, 9.22] mg/100g (wet weight);