giant electric ray

Open encyclopedia reference

Narcine entemedor, the giant electric ray or Cortez electric ray, is a species of numbfish, family Narcinidae, native to the eastern Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California to Panama. It is found in shallow water on sandy bottoms and sometimes adjacent to reefs. This species is closely related to the lesser electric ray (Narcine bancroftii) from the western Atlantic, and may represent the same species. The specific epithet entemedor seems to be the Spanish equivalent of "intimidator". This species attains a maximum length of 76 cm (30 in). The flattened pectoral fin disk is round, as long as it is wide, and overlapping the origin of the large pelvic fins. The eyes are much smaller than the spiracles, which are edged with small tubercles. The nostril on each side is not divided into two separate apertures. The teeth are mostly exposed when the mouth is closed. The tail is equal in length to the disk, with loose lateral folds of skin and two dorsal fins of equal size. The tips of the dorsal and caudal fins are angular.

Wikipedia contributors, Narcine entemedor; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:15:51.040653+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Narcine entemedor Jordan & Starks, 1895

Name authority

Jordan & Starks, 1895

Common name

giant electric ray

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Elasmobranchii

Order

Torpediniformes

Family

Narcinidae

Genus

Narcine

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumChondrichthyes
7. classElasmobranchii
8. subclassNeoselachii
9. infraclassBatoidea
10. orderTorpediniformes
11. familyNarcinidae Gill, 1862
12. genusNarcine Henle, 1834
13. speciesNarcine entemedor Jordan & Starks, 1895

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Narcine. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 19 records assigned to Narcinidae.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Jordan, D. S. (1895). The fishes of Sinaloa. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Series 2), v. 5: 377–514, Pls. 26–55. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6S4NN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.