Julie Laturnus, age 12, of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, for her question:
What is a torpedo fish?
He is a relative of the flapping rays, the stringy tailed sting rays and the so called devil fish who is not so fierce as he looks. The torpedo fish fires off torpedos, but not the sort you mould expect. His ammunition is powerful jolts of electricity. However, he is not related to the famous electric eel, who keeps up a constant barrage of jolts that whack his friends, his enemies and even himself.
About 340 gristle boned rays and skates belong in the bat winged Order Batoidei. Some families in this fishy group have whip tails armed with venomous sting. Others do not. The 36 species of electric rays are in the Family Torpedinidae. They are fitted with special organs that deliver large or small jolts of electricity. In this group tae find the genus Torpedo, which includes the 13 or so large and small torpedo fishes.
These stunning fellows enjoy life in tropical and semitropical seas, from the tidal shores way out to c caters almost a mile deep. A couple called the numbfish and the crampfish live off Australia c there they sometimes jolt cramps and numbness into the muscles of human swimmers. The crampfish is a half oval shared blob with no tail worth mentioning and the numbfish is no longer than 17 inches.
At least two larger torpedo fishes flay off the Atlantic and Pacific shores of 'Torch America. The speckled Atlantic species is a roundish disk attached to a strong thick body with fleshy fins and a fat little fan shaped tail. His average weight is around 100 pounds, though whopping 200 pounders have been caught.
The California torpedo fish tends to be larger and 200 pounders are not uncommon. A large torpedo fish can send an electric jolt of 200 volts through the cater. This is enough to stun a man for a minute or so, or knock him off his feet. And a shot from a torpedo fish has been known to shock a leopard shark clear out of his aquarium tank onto the boardwalk.
The taro batteries of a torpedo fish are located in his wings, one on each side of his flat head. These electric organs are modified muscle tissue, built from small disks, called plate or prisms. The disks are separated by fibrous connective tissue and stacked in neat columns. Usually there are 400 disks in a column and each battery is a bundle of 150 to 1,000 columns..
Apparently a torpedo fish can control his electric shots. He uses them to shock mackerel and other frisky fishes he fancies for dinner. Then he swallows his stunned victims whole. He also uses his battery to protect himself from sharks and other suspected enemies,
When threatened, a large torpedo fish shoots off a barrage of electric shocks. The first shot, maybe 200 volts, is the strongest and gradually his power fails. After the series, his ammunition is spent and it takes him several days to recharge his batteries. Baby torpedo fishes are born alive and they can shoot off mild shocks, even before birth.