#electricrays

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn

@ufbd.bsky.social

1 month ago

The Torpedo fish wasn't named after the torpedo, but the other way round. The underwater missile was named after the fish, which are now called electric rays (genus Torpedo, family Torpedinidae). The name, in turn, comes from the Latin torpēdo, meaning lethargy or sluggish-ness. The name was fitting because the original design was more like a sea mine than today's self-propelled device.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #487: Torpedo.
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#torpedo #torpedofish #electricrays #nomenclature #whatsinaname #fish #submarines #missiles #explosives #strangebuttrue #didyouknow #funfacts #facts #webcomics #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

joeymaier 🌊

@joeymaier.bsky.social

7 months ago

Further coverage, this time from National Geographic, of new paper by @dr-yannis.bsky.social discussing #electricrays using their shocks to avoid getting eaten by large sharks

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Alberto Pastor 🦔

@titoalpastor.bsky.social

8 months ago

This animal has a built-in taser to stun sharks Electric rays are staying out of the stomachs of sharks by shocking them—with up to 200 volts.

"Electric rays can scare away sharks by zapping them with powerful electric discharges. While electric rays are known to use their built-in tasers for hunting, this is the first study to show that they also use them for self-defense."
🌊🐡⚡🦈 #ElectricRays #Sharks #DefenseMechanisms #Biology #Nature

joeymaier 🌊

@joeymaier.bsky.social

8 months ago

🦑 #marineresearch 🦑🦑 #marineresearch

TIL that #electricrays will shock a large #shark to avoid predation

"rays emit longer and more EODs during predatory attempts than they do for defensive purposes...short duration discharges allow the electric organ to be rapidly reused if a predator returns."

joeymaier 🌊

@joeymaier.bsky.social

8 months ago

Electric Rays Defend Themselves From Large Sharks Using Electric Discharge Torpedo rays can produce electric organ discharges (EODs) which they use to stun prey. Here we show they can also use this for defensive purposes to repel large sharks including tiger and white shark....

🦈 #shark

New research paper from @dr-yannis.bsky.social uses biologging & diver observations as evidence that #torpedorays can repel #whiteshark & #tigershark predators by using their electric shock abilities. These #electricrays use shorter discharges for defense.

share.google/wYDvmpOn2Kda...

Fish in the News

@fishinthenews.bsky.social

4 years ago

A pretty cool "Electric Rays of the World" #calendar for 2022! -

#ElectricRays #ElectricFishes #Rays #FlatSharkFriday