Narcine prodorsalis Bessednov, 1966

Roy, Sanmitra, Mohanty, Swarup Ranjan, Mohapatra, Anil & Mishra, S. S., 2019, Short Communication First Record of three Electric Rays (Order: Torpediniformes) from Odisha Coast, India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 119 (4) : -

3. Narcine prodorsalis Bessednov, 1966

( Tonkin numbfish) ( Figure 3 )

1966. Narcine prodorsalis Bessednov, Zoologichesky Zhurnal , 45: 77-82 (Type locality: Tonkin Gulf , Viet Nam) .

Materials examined: EBRC /ZSI F-9316, 01 ex., 351 mm TL, 196 mm DW, Gopalpur beach (19°15’47.56”N, 84°54’59.26”E), Ganjam, Odisha, S. Roy and S .R. Mohanty; 25/xii/2017.

Description: Disc Length (DL) 1.10 times in Disc width; eye diameter 23.6 times in disc length; pre-orbital length

3.4 times in DL; pre-oral length 3.5 times in DL; pre-nasal length 4.1 times in DL. It is a moderately large ray with a tail length equal to that of disc length. Eyes large, placed very close to spiracles than anterior margin; anterior contour of disc highly arched, snout moderately long. Spiracle with an elevated rim, devoid of papilla; nostrils circular, close together, closer to mouth than to snout; anterior lobe expanded posteriorly and medially to form a small nasal curtain continuous in front of mouth, except for narrow isthmus, and with a convex posterior margin and slightly overlaps the mouth. Mouth of moderate size; lower tooth band narrow, not as wide as upper tooth band, lower tooth band not wide and angular in outline posteriorly. Pectoral fins thin near margin; two well-developed, kidney-shaped electric organs visible externally on ventral side of head; skin thick and naked. Rear end of base of first dorsal fin posterior to rear ends of pelvic fin bases; inter-dorsal distance shorter than the distance between the second dorsal and caudal fin. Small, numerous regular black and dark brown spots present on very light brown dorsal background while under surface is white; small blackish spots present on caudal fin; most spots of about the size of eyes or less and very few larger than eyes.

Distribution: Western Pacific: off China to Java, Indonesia ( Froese & Pauly, 2018). From Indian water this species has been reported only from Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh ( Devarapalli, 2017). Narcine prodorsalis is generally found in continental waters, both inshore and offshore.

Figures

Figure 3. Narcine prodorsalis Bessednov, 1966 351 mm TL, EBRC/ZSI F-9316.