Order Torpediniformes — Torpedo Electric Rays — Family Torpedinidae —
Pacific Electric Ray
Caught at the Imperial Beach Pier
Caught at the Imperial Beach Pier
Species: Tetronarce californica; (Ayres, 1855); from the Greek word torpedo (for numbness—from the electric shock) and californica (for California, where the first specimens were taken). Formerly called Torpedo californica.
Alternate Names: Torpedo ray, numbfish, crampfish or torpedo. Called torpedo del Pacifico or torpedo in Mexico.
Identification: An oval disk that is thick and flabby; the tail is short, stocky, with two dorsal fins and a large symmetrical caudal fin. No spines or prickles. Eyes small and round; mouth moderate in size with 4 or 5 rows of teeth in each jaw. Coloring is blue-black to dark gray above; white to slate gray below; often with black spotting.
Caught at the Ventura Pier
Size: Reported to 55.1 inches in length and 90 pounds. Typical size at piers is from two and a half to three and a half feet.
Range: Worldwide in tropical and temperate seas; in the eastern Pacific from Todos Santos, southern Baja California, and the Gulf of California, to Wiah Point, Graham Island, in Dixon Entrance, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.
Habitat: Generally in shallow coastal waters (surf zone) but reported to a depth of 1,079 feet. During the day they will often partially bury themselves in sand before ambushing unsuspecting victims that come a little too close. They capture their prey (fish, invertebrates, cephalopods) by suddenly lunging their heads upwards and simultaneously delivering an electric shock (of up to 45 volts). At night they like to swim mid-level and attack fish that have settled near the bottom in a quiescent state. It’s reported that when “a prey fish enters range, the ray lunges forward and folds the anterior and lateral margins of its pectoral fins over it. It then envelops the prey further by making short kicks with its tail, sometimes performing somersaults and/or barrel rolls, while incapacitating it with electric shocks. The stunned fish is then passed to the weak but flexible mouth with undulations of the disc, and swallowed head-first.” When vision is limited (night or turbid water) they may find their prey by picking up electrical cues with their ampullae of Lorenzini.
Piers: An uncommon catch at piers although some are taken each year, generally at piers south of Point Conception. Best bets: Ocean Beach Pier (now closed), San Clemente Pier, Hermosa Beach Pier, Ventura Pier (#1), and the Gaviota Pier.
Caught at the Ventura Pier
Shoreline: Rarely caught by shore anglers.
Boats: Rarely seen by boaters.
Bait and Tackle: Since this is one of the larger fish pier anglers will encounter; you should use at least medium saltwater tackle—twenty pound test line and size 2 to 4/0 hooks. Most electric rays have been taken on cut bait such as mackerel and sardines or on squid.
Food Value: Apparently they are quite tasty (at least according to the French who savor electric rays).
Comments: Milton Love reports that they “hover over the potential tidbits, then stun them with a jolt that can reach at least 45 volts.” These rays are generally a surprise catch on a pier and often the angler is shocked (literally) by the catch. If you must pick them up, do so by their tails; the shocks are produced in organs located in the disk on each side of the ray.
Interesting (at least to me) was a story in the Los Angeles Times in December of 1985 that reported an unusual discovery by biologists at Scripps Institute of Oceanography diving off of La Jolla. They documented that a rare snail from California and Mexican waters feeds on electric rays in “an unusual parasitic relationship.” Apparently the snail, known as Cooper’s nutmeg (say what?), inserts its four-inch long extendable snout, a snout lined with tiny teeth that can pierce a ray’s surface tissue, into the electric ray and extracts bodily fluids for as long as 40 minutes at a time. Neither the ray or snail is harmed even though the ray can discharge an electric shock equal to that from a car battery. The feeding takes place while the ray lies partly buried on the bottom and the snail prefers to feed on the bottom of the ray due, perhaps, because the snail’s tubular snout might be mistaken for a worm by other fish if visible on top of the ray. How does the snail find the ray? Easy. The snail sniffs out the ray’s chemical trail from as far away as 75 feet. No explanation was given as to why the ray didn’t simply shock and eat the snail.