Venezuelan Dwarf Numbfish

• It has two electric organs on either side of the head, made of modified muscle cells, with which it produces discharges to stun its prey and to defend itself.
• Its range is tiny: it is confined to a few hundred kilometres of Venezuelan coast, which makes it very vulnerable to the shrimp trawling that takes it as bycatch.
• Like the other electric rays, it is slow-moving and does not rely on speed to hunt.
• It is a dwarf electric ray: it grows no bigger than about 30 cm, against the metre reached by the Mediterranean torpedo ray.
• Like the rest of the narcinids, it has paired electric organs on either side of the head with which it stuns small bottom-dwelling invertebrates.
• Its range is tiny and overlaps almost entirely with shrimp-trawling grounds, which explains its threat category.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - cartilaginous skeleton (chondrichthyan fish)

Habitat and environment

Shallow sand and mud bottoms off northern Venezuela

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (en): Brownband numbfish

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.