Blackspotted torpedo
species of fish
The black-spotted torpedo (Torpedo fuscomaculata) is a poorly known, uncommon species of electric ray in the family Torpedinidae, known for being capable of generating an electric shock. It is endemic to southern Africa and possibly several small Indian Ocean islands, although the latter reports may represent undescribed new species. Its appearance is similar to the Gulf torpedo (Torpedo sinuspersici), but it is duller in coloration.
Distribution and habitat
This species occurs in the western Indian Ocean, from South Africa east of Cape Agulhas to Zanzibar, and possibly as far north as Kenya. There are reports of it from Somalia, but they are unconfirmed. It is also found around Madagascar, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. It frequents estuaries and the intertidal zone to a depth of 439 m, as well as in sandy areas near deep rocky reefs. There are anecdotal accounts of it traveling up rivers and estuary systems in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, such as the Kariega Estuary 2 km from the coast. The salinity of these waterways has recently increased for unknown reasons.
Description
The maximum reported length for this ray is 64 cm.
“Blackspotted torpedo” enters the record as species of fish. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Blackspotted, torpedo and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1484929. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Blackspotted torpedo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.