Torpedo sinuspersici Olfers, 1831

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) : -

1. Torpedo sinuspersici Olfers, 1831

(Variable torpedo ray) ( Figure 1 )

1831. Torpedo sinuspersici Olfers, Die Gattung Torpedo : 15, 17 (Type locality: Persian Gulf).

Materials examined: EBRC /ZSI F-9283, 01 ex., 192 mm TL, 138 mm Disc Width (DW), inshore waters near Golabandha (19°13’48”N, 84°52’42”E), Ganjam, Odisha, H.S. Rao. 04/viii/1984 ; EBRC /ZSI F-9330, 01 ex., 250 mm TL, 178 mm DW, Gopalpur beach (19°15’47.56”N, 84°54’59.26”E), Ganjam, Odisha, S. Roy and S . R. Mohanty, 12/xii/2017 ; EBRC /ZSI F-9831, 01 ex., 467 mm TL, 328 mm DW, Gopalpur beach (19°15’47.56”N, 84°54’59.26”E), Ganjam , Odisha, S . R. Mohanty and S. Roy, 17/iii/2018 .

Description: Disc Length (DL) 1.17- 1.20 times in Disc width; eye diameter 19.2- 24.3 times in disc length; pre-orbital length 6.6- 9.3 times in DL; pre-oral length 5.4- 7.0 times in disc length; pre-nasal length 7.7- 9.5 times in disc length. Anterior contour of disc slightly arched; snout short; eyes and spiracles small, close together on top of head. Spiracles armed with 8 or 9 papillae on margin, the posterior one the largest. Nostrils transverse and relatively large, closer to mouth than to snout; anterior lobe expanded posteriorly and medially to form nasal curtain continuous in front of mouth, except for narrow isthmus, and with smooth posterior margin. Mouth of moderate size and arched, flanked by longitudinal furrows but without well-developed labial cartilages. Pectoral fins very thick near margin; two well-developed, kidney-shaped electric organs visible externally on either side of head; caudal fin small; skin very soft, naked. Rear end of base of first dorsal fin considerably posterior to rear ends of pelvic fin bases; inter-dorsal distance shorter than the distance between the second dorsal and caudal fin. Bright golden colour pattern of circles and irregular marks on dark red or brown to blackish background dorsally and white under surface.

Distribution: Western Indian Ocean : Persian Gulf, Red Sea eastward to India and southward to Natal, South Africa ( Froese & Pauly, 2018). From Indian waters, it has been recorded from Maharashtra ( Barman et al., 2012), Kerala ( Biju Kumar & Raghavan, 2015), Tamil Nadu ( Biswas et al., 2012) and Andhra Pradesh ( Sujatha, 2002; Sujatha et al., 2014); also from Lakshadweep by Carvalho et al. (2002) treated the illustration of Jones and Kumaran (1980) as of this species. This species is usually found in inshore waters over sandy bottom, also well offshore from the surf zone down to 200 m.

Remarks: Among the three specimens examined one specimen (F- 9831, 328 mm DW) is having smaller eyes than other two samples with an eye diameter 24.3 times in disc length. The Inter-dorsal distance is more or less equals to the distance between the second dorsal and caudal fin being it a much larger specimen than the other two.

Figures

Figure 1. Torpedo sinuspersici Olfers, 1831, 250 mm TL, EBRC/ZSI F-9330.