lesser electric ray

This species of ray has a near-circular{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmodiver.com/lesser_electric_ray.htm |title=Lesser electric ray |work=Elasmo Field Guide |publisher=elasmodiver.com |accessdate=February 16, 2011}} body and a short tail. It grows to approximately {{convert|45|cm|sp=us}} long, and {{convert|20|cm|0|abbr=on}} wide, with colouration ranging from dark brown to reddish orange. It has irregular rings, sometimes oval in shape. The ventral surface ranges from white to greenish. It has tooth rows that vary in number from 17 to 34 in each jaw. This depends on the size of the specimen.

It has two electric organs, elongate in shape, that run from the front of the eyes, down to the rear end of the disc. These organs can generate a peak voltage of about 14 to 37 volts, which they use to stun prey and to defend themselves.

Narcine bancroftii SI.jpg

Narcine bancroftii SI2.jpg

Narcine bancroftii upper teeth.jpg|Upper teeth

Narcine bancroftii lower teeth.jpg|Lower teeth

This species is found in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from northeastern Brazil to North Carolina. It is also found in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies.

The lesser electric ray is most commonly found under sand or mud, in intertidal shallow waters, but has been found at depths of up to {{convert|180|ft}}.

This species is nocturnal. It remains motionless during the daytime, and forages for food in the substrate at night. It is a sluggish swimmer and maintains a territory in the surf zone of the beach. Females mature at the age of two and produce as many as twenty live young at a time.

Lesser electric rays feed mainly on polychaete annelids. They also eat benthic worms,{{Cite web |title=Narcine bancroftii (Caribbean Electric Ray) |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Narcine_bancroftii%20-%20Caribbean%20Electric%20Ray.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915153200/https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Narcine_bancroftii%20-%20Caribbean%20Electric%20Ray.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2022 |access-date=3 March 2023 |website=University of the West Indies}} juvenile snake eels, sea anemones, small bony fish and various crustaceans.

The lesser electric ray is caught as bycatch in coastal shrimp fisheries and in seine net fisheries. Its population in the Gulf of Mexico has decreased to about 2% of what it was in 1972, and similar catastrophic declines have been experienced elsewhere. In July, 2016 the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) conducted a thorough review of the status of the lesser electric ray because the original study used to justify the critically endangered designation was based on a very small sample size. This updated status review conducted by NMFS incorporated fisheries dependent and independent data and concluded that the population is "not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range and is not likely to become so within the foreseeable future".{{cite web|title=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List the Caribbean Electric Ray as Threatened or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/07/22/2016-17397/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-notice-of-12-month-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|date=July 22, 2016|access-date=March 26, 2022}} The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|position=right|Narcine bancroftii}}

• [http://www.eol.org/pages/221412 Image showing teeth]
• https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/narcine-bancroftii/
• {{sealifephotos|275386}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5016476}}

lesser electric ray

Category:Fauna of the Southeastern United States

Category:Fish of the Caribbean

Category:Fish of the Dominican Republic

Category:Fish of the Western Atlantic

lesser electric ray

lesser electric ray

Category:Taxa named by Charles Hamilton Smith