A new species of electric ray, Narcine oculifera, is described from four adult and three fetal specimens collected from the gulfs of Oman and Aden. Narcine oculifera is distinguished from all other species of the genus by its unique dorsal color pattern, composed of irregular light brown to reddish-brown reticulations over disc, pelvic fins and tail, demarcating white or creamy-white oval, reniform and circular spots of variable sizes, and with small white spots on dorsal and caudal fins. Narcine oculifera resembles an undescribed species of Narcine from the western coast of Madagascar, with which it is compared. The new species described here was collected from two localities off Oman and from two off Somalia and represents only the second species of Narcine from the western Indian Ocean.
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1 February 2002
Narcine oculifera: A New Species of Electric Ray from the Gulfs of Oman and Aden (Chondrichthyes: Torpediniformes: Narcinidae)
Marcelo R. de Carvalho,
Leonard J. V. Compagno,
Jonathan K. L. Mee
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