Guitarfish in the Dive Park

[archman]

When I've used a flounder spear to gently stroke a torpedo ray's back in the areas of charge generation, I've noticed the flesh ripple rapidly in waves.

Was it discharging electricity at that time, do you think?

I think I read in a study, which I can't find anymore, that the torpedo ray's charge is significantly lower during daytime than nighttime. Do you know if that's true?

Were your students using wetsuit gloves? Would you expect drygloves and drysuit to provide substantial protection from the electrical charge?

Little do I know of the electric organs, other than the info others have already posted.

My "guinea pig" students were using bare hands on a trawl-caught specimen, which had doubtless used up a lot of it's *charge* during capture. I don't think I'd ever recommend anyone touching one underwater. Eek.