Electric Rays: Voltage, Habitat and Stingray Differences

Electric rays are flat, cartilaginous fish of the order Torpediniformes that stun prey and deter attackers with electric shocks; Wikipedia counts about 69 species. They have a rounded disc formed by the pectoral fins, two rounded dorsal fins and a thick, muscular tail. Wikipedia describes the body as thick and flabby, with soft skin and no defensive spines or thorns.

They are slow animals. Wikipedia says electric rays swim with their tails rather than their pectoral fins, unlike most rays, and spend much of the day resting.

The power comes from two kidney-shaped electric organs, one on each side of the disc at the base of the pectoral fins. Wikipedia explains that each organ is made of stacked hexagonal columns, each holding 500 to more than 1,000 flat cells called electrocyte plaques, which evolved from gill-arch muscle. The Monterey Bay Aquarium says that in the Pacific electric ray these organs make up about one-sixth of the ray's total weight.

Output depends on the species. Wikipedia gives a range from 8 volts in some species to 220 volts in the Atlantic torpedo, Torpedo nobiliana. SeaWorld gives about 220 volts for large Atlantic torpedoes and about 37 volts for the lesser electric ray, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium gives up to 45 volts for the Pacific electric ray.

For comparison, the electric eel reaches up to 860 volts in one species (Wikipedia). It uses the same kind of electrocyte-based organ, arrived at separately; see our electric eel page.

No. Electric rays have no stinger; their defence is the electric shock. The Monterey Bay Aquarium says a Pacific electric ray's shock is strong enough to knock down an adult, that the rays can be aggressive and may approach or chase away divers who threaten them, but that there is no record of them harming humans.

Stingrays are the ones that sting. Wikipedia describes a stinger, or spinal blade, in the middle of the tail that can secrete venom, and says contact can cause pain, swelling, muscle cramps and later infection, sometimes needing surgery to remove fragments.

The safe rule for both: look, do not touch. Anyone who is shocked or stung and has trouble breathing, chest pain, heavy bleeding or a spine fragment in the wound needs emergency medical care. In the US, Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) can advise on stings.

Four checks, from Wikipedia unless noted:

• Tail: an electric ray has a thick, muscular tail with fins at the end; a stingray's tail carries a stinging blade partway along it
• Disc: electric rays have a rounded, thick, soft disc; the kidney-shaped organs sometimes show as two rounded areas on either side of the head
• Swimming: electric rays drive themselves with the tail; most rays, including stingrays, swim with their pectoral fins
• Group: electric rays are Torpediniformes, about 69 species; stingrays are Myliobatiformes, about 220 species

If you photograph a ray on the beach or in a dive, include the full tail. FishLens can suggest a match from a photo; do not handle the animal to get a better shot.

Electric rays live in temperate and tropical seas worldwide (SeaWorld), from shallow coastal water to depths of more than 1,000 m (Wikipedia). Some examples:

• Pacific electric ray, Tetronarce californica: British Columbia to central Baja California, from 3 to 274 m (10 to 900 ft), on sandy bottoms, rocky reefs and kelp beds; up to 1.4 m (4.5 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
• Atlantic torpedo: open ocean to about 450 m (1,475 ft); up to 1.8 m (6 ft) and 90 kg (200 lb) (SeaWorld)
• Blind electric rays: as deep as 900 m (2,950 ft) (SeaWorld)

The Monterey Bay Aquarium notes that Pacific electric rays are caught incidentally in trawls and gill nets, and that there is no sport fishery for them.

Electric rays are ambush hunters. SeaWorld says many bury themselves in sand by day and feed at night. The Monterey Bay Aquarium describes Pacific electric rays foraging two to three feet above sandy bottoms or reefs at night, drifting slowly over fish and stunning them with a charge; their prey includes herring, kelp bass, anchovies and halibut. SeaWorld lists fishes, worms, crustaceans, eels, flounders and small sharks across species.

They give birth to live young. The Pacific electric ray carries its young for eight to ten months (Monterey Bay Aquarium). SeaWorld gives a 12-month gestation and litters of up to 60 pups for the Atlantic torpedo, and two pups for the lesser electric ray.

The English name simply describes the electric organ. The older name, torpedo, which is still the genus name Torpedo, comes from the Latin torpere, to be stiffened or paralysed, describing what happens to anyone who touches one (Wikipedia).

People have known about the shock for a long time. Wikipedia records that ancient Greeks used electric rays to numb the pain of childbirth, and that 18th-century researchers such as John Walsh and John Hunter studied them, work that fed into the early science of electrophysiology.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Every number names the organisation it comes from, and where sources disagree we say so instead of picking one silently. Prices are given with the date we checked them (25 September 2026); they change, so confirm before you rely on them. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.