Florida torpedo

Florida torpedo
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Order:	Torpediniformes
Family:	Torpedinidae
Genus:	Torpedo
Species:	T. andersoni
Binomial name
Torpedo andersoni Bullis, 1962

The Florida torpedo, Torpedo andersoni, is a rare species of electric ray in the family Torpedinidae, notable for well-developed electric organs capable of delivering a strong shock. It is only known from two specimens collected from a depth of 229 meters on the upper continental slope on the western edge of the Grand Bahama Bank in the Florida Straits, a photograph from a depth of 11 meters at Grand Cayman Island, and two sightings from a depth of 18 meters at San Andreas Island in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. The observations at Grand Cayman and San Andreas took place amongst scattered coral.

Like other Torpedo species, the Florida torpedo has a relatively circular pectoral fin disc, two dorsal fins with the first larger than the second, and a stout tail. It is distinguished from the Atlantic torpedo (T. nobiliana), the only other Torpedo species in the central and western Atlantic Ocean, by its coloration: yellowish above with small brownish-red blotches, and light cream below. In addition, it has papillae around its spiracle, and the base of its first dorsal fin does not extend past the base of its pelvic fins. The two known specimens are 16 and 22 cm long; the maximum size is reported to be 32 cm. It is presumably ovoviviparous. Potential threats to the Florida torpedo include demersal trawling fisheries and tourism-related development, although no data is available to assess its population status.