Marine life  /  Sharks & rays  /  Lesser electric ray
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Species entry

Lesser electric ray

Narcine bancroftii

A small soft-bodied ray that buries in sand and delivers an electric shock from organs behind the eyes.

Size
To 45 cm
Depth
1–20 m
Habitat
Sand and rubble; Blue Heron Bridge
Active
Night
Range
Western Atlantic
Rarity
Florida
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
SP-01
lesser electric ray · full body · habitat
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To about 45 cm, a small soft-bodied ray with a rounded disc, mottled brown, on shallow sand in Florida and the Gulf. Common at Blue Heron Bridge and normally found buried.

The shock is weaker than the marbled electric ray’s — startling rather than dangerous — and it comes from the same paired organs behind the eyes. Same rule: the animal is buried, so the hazard is the hand that goes down on it.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Florida United States editorial estimate
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Year-round
1–20 m
Sand and rubble; Blue Heron Bridge

Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.

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