ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
135
Original scientific article             UDK 591.159:597.317.5(262.26)
Received: 2011-09-20
ABNORMALITIES IN COMMON TORPEDOS, TORPEDO TORPEDO 
(CHONDRICHTHYES: TORPEDINIDAE) FROM THE LAGOON 
OF BIZERTE (NORTHERN TUNISIA, CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN)
Olfa EL KAMEL-MOUTALIBI, Néjia MNASRI & Moncef BOUMAÏZA
Laboratoire d’Hydrobiologie Littorale et Limnique, Université du 07 novembre à Carthage, Faculté des Sciences, Zarzouna, 7021 
Bizerte, Tunisia
Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ
Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Didactique, l’Éducation et la Formation, E. A. 3749, case 77, Université Montpellier 
II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France
E-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr
ABSTRACT
The authors report on the capture of two abnormal specimens of common torpedo Torpedo torpedo Linnaeus 
1758 in the Lagoon of Bizerte, northeastern Tunisia. Both specimens, one a juvenile male and the other a juvenile fe-
male, presented the pectoral fin non adherent to the head and an incomplete pelvic fin. The specimens are described 
and their atypical characteristics commented and discussed.
Key words: Chondrichthyes, Torpedo torpedo, abnormalities, Lagoon of Bizerte, northern Tunisia
ANORMALITÀ IN TORPEDINE OCCHIUTA, TORPEDO TORPEDO (CHONDRICHTHYES: 
TORPEDINIDAE), NELLA LAGUNA DI BIZERTE (TUNISIA SETTENTRIONALE, 
MEDITERRANEO CENTRALE)
SINTESI
Gli autori segnalano la cattura di due individui anormali di torpedine occhiuta, Torpedo torpedo Linnaeus 1758, 
nella Laguna di Bizerte, Tunisia settentrionale. Entrambi gli esemplari, un giovane maschio e una giovane femmina, 
presentavano pinne pettorali non aderenti alla testa e pinne pelviche (ventrali) incomplete. Nell’articolo i due esem-
plari vengono descritti e vengono commentate e discusse le loro caratteristiche atipiche. 
Parole chiave: Chondrichthyes, Torpedo torpedo, anormalità, Laguna di Bizerte, Tunisia settentrionale
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
136
INTRODUCTION
Torpedo torpedo is known in the eastern Atlantic 
from the Bay of Biscay (Quéro et al., 2003) to Portugal 
(Albuquerque, 1954-1956), and south of the Strait of Gi-
braltar, from off Morocco (Lloris & Rucabado, 1998) to 
the waters of South Africa (Smith & Heemstra, 1986).
T. torpedo occurs throughout the Mediterranean Sea, 
but appears to be more frequently caught in southern 
areas (Capapé, 1989), especially off the Maghreb coast 
(Capapé, 1989; Bradaï et al., 2004). Additionally, the 
common torpedo was also recorded in Tunisian brackish 
areas such as the Bahiret El Biban (Capapé et al., 2004), 
Tunis Southern Lagoon (Mejri et al., 2004) and especially 
in the Lagoon of Bizerte, where a sustainable populati-
on developed and reproduced (Ben Brahim & Capapé, 
1997; Ben Brahim et al., 1998; El Kamel et al., 2009a, b).
Investigations were conducted between 1995 and 
2000 in the Lagoon of Bizerte, and of 863 specimens 
collected during this period two were abnormal (Ben 
Brahim & Capapé, 1997; Ben Brahim et al., 1998). Si-
milar investigations started again in 2006 and are still in 
progress (El Kamel et al., 2009a, b; Mnasri et al., 2010); 
during this time, an abnormal specimen was collected 
(El Kamel et al., 2009a) and two abnormal embryos 
were found in a pregnant female (Mnasri et al., 2010).
The aim of this paper is to present and describe these 
new cases of abnormality recorded in the Lagoon of Bi-
zerte and to comment on atypical characteristics found 
in torpedinid species.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Two abnormal specimens were found on 2 October 
2010 and 5 October 2010, respectively, and both were 
caught by gill-nets having 26 mm mesh size, at depth 
not exceeding 10 m, on sandy bottom, by 37°12’06.76” 
N and 9°54’13.86” E (Figs. 1, 2).
Fresh specimens were identified soon after capture 
following Quignard & Capapé (1974), Capapé & De-
soutter (1981) and Mejri et al. (2004), measured to the 
nearest millimetre and weighed to the nearest decigram 
following Mejri et al. (2004). Morphometric measure-
ments, meristic counts and total body mass recorded 
in both abnormal specimens and 4 normal specimens 
of similar size class are presented in Table 1. The latter 
specimens were included in order to compare percents 
of total length, carried out for each measurement, be-
tween abnormal and normal specimens.
All specimens from Table 1 were preserved in 10% 
buffered formalin and deposited in the Ichthyologi-
Fig. 1: Map of the Mediterranean showing the Tunisian 
coast and pointing out the Lagoon of Bizerte.
Sl. 1: Zemljevid Sredozemlja z obalo Tunizije in označe-
no Laguno Bizerte.
Fig. 2: Map of the Lagoon of Bizerte showing the cap-
ture site (black stars) of the abnormal torpedos (FSB 
T-torp.08 and T-torp.09).
Sl. 2: Zemljevid Lagune Bizerte z označenima mestoma 
ulova (črni zvezdi) abnormalnih primerkov električne-
ga skata (FSB T-torp.08 in T-torp.09).
Olfa EL KAMEL-MOUTALIBI et al.: ABNORMALITIES IN COMMON TORPEDOS, TORPEDO TORPEDO (CHONDRICHTHYES: TORPEDINIDAE) ..., 135–142
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
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cal Collection of the Faculté des Sciences of Bizerte 
(Tunisia). The two abnormal specimens received the 
catalogue numbers: FSB T.-torp 08 and FSB T.-torp 09, 
respectively, while the 4 normal specimens were cata-
logued from FSB T.-torp 10 to FSB T.-torp 13.
References FSB T-torp.08 FSB T-torp.09 FSB T-torp.10 FSB T-torp.11 FSB T-torp.12 FSB T-torp.13
Sex M F F M F M
Condition abnormal abnormal normal normal normal normal
Total mass (g) 259.8 47.40 254.30 226.90 63.4 50
Morphometric 
measurements 
mm % of TL mm % of TL mm % of TL mm % of TL mm % of TL mm
% of 
TL
Total length 260.0 100.0 150.4 100.0 260.0 100.0 260.0 100.0 156.4 100.0 149 100.0
Disk-length 132.0 50.8 72.3 48.1 127.0 48.8 130.0 50.0 79 50.5 80 53.7
Disk-width 160.0 61.5 89.9 59.7 156.0 60.0 155.0 59.6 93.3 59.7 100 67.1
Disk-depth 25.1 9.6 13.7 9.1 22.0 8.5 24.0 9.2 10.9 7.0 11.3 7.6
Eyeball length 6.5 2.5 4.4 2.9 6.9 2.7 6.4 2.5 5.4 3.5 4.8 3.2
Cornea 3.9 1.5 2.2 1.4 3.4 1.3 3.0 1.2 2.2 1.4 2.8 1.9
Pre-orbital 
length
16.3 6.3 9.9 6.6 17.6 6.8 17.4 6.7 10.5 6.7 10.9 7.3
Inter-orbital 
width
14.4 5.5 7.1 4.7 11.5 4.4 13.4 5.2 7.3 4.7 8.3 5.6
Nasal curtain 15.3 5.9 8.7 5.8 14.5 5.6 14.7 5.7 7.8 5.0 8.4 5.6
Spiracle 
diameter
4.8 1.8 3.6 2.4 4.6 1.8 4.5 1.7 3 1.9 2.8 1.9
Inter-nasal 
width
12.9 5.0 7.0 4.6 11.5 4.4 11.2 4.3 6.3 4.0 6.1 4.1
Space between 
eye and 
spiracle
6.8 2.6 3.6 2.4 5.6 2.2 4.8 1.8 3.8 2.4 3 2.0
Inter-spiracular 
width
13.3 5.1 7.5 5.0 10.8 4.2 11.6 4.5 8.7 5.6 7.8 5.2
Pre-oral length 21.1 8.1 11.5 7.6 13.9 5.3 14.3 5.5 7.8 5.0 13 8.7
Mouth width 15.2 5.8 10.6 7.0 16.2 6.2 17.6 6.8 11.3 7.2 8.9 6.0
First gill slit 5.5 2.1 2.5 1.7 7.6 2.9 6.4 2.5 3.4 2.2 3 2.0
Second gill slit 5.3 2.0 2.8 1.9 6.7 2.6 6.9 2.7 3.6 2.3 3.6 2.4
Third gill slit 5.7 2.2 3.1 2.1 7.0 2.7 8.1 3.1 3.6 2.3 3.6 2.4
Fourth gill slit 6.7 2.6 3.0 2.0 6.9 2.7 7.2 2.8 3.9 2.5 3.7 2.5
Fifth gill slit 6.0 2.3 2.3 1.5 4.4 1.7 5.6 2.2 3.1 2.0 3.3 2.2
Width between 
first gill slit
38.6 14.8 21.4 14.2 35.3 13.6 36.5 14.0 24 15.3 20.9 14.0
Width between 
fifth gill slit
36.8 14.2 20.1 13.3 34.1 13.1 33.2 12.8 23.3 14.9 19.9 13.4
Snout tip to eye 22.0 8.5 11.4 7.6 21.2 8.2 21.9 8.4 12.8 8.2 12.5 8.4
Snout tip to 
mouth
26.3 10.1 13.6 9.0 23.0 8.8 25.0 9.6 14 9.0 12.7 8.5
Snout tip to 
first gill slit
49.3 19.0 30.2 20.1 53.0 20.4 54.0 20.8 32.5 20.8 29 19.5
Snout tip to 
fifth gill slit
74.5 28.6 43.4 28.9 83.0 31.9 82.0 31.5 48.8 31.2 45.4 30.5
Snout tip 
pelvic fin
120.8 46.5 72.7 48.3 132.0 50.8 127.0 48.8 69.7 44.6 70.6 47.4
Snout tip to 
vent
136.9 52.6 80.0 53.2 145.0 55.8 143.0 55.0 82.6 52.8 78.6 52.8
Tab. 1: Morphometric measurements and meristic counts recorded in the abnormal common torpedos (FSB T-
-torp.08 and FSB T-torp.09), and 4 normal common torpedos (FSB T-torp.10 to FSB T-torp.13).
Tab. 1: Morfometrični in meristični podatki za abnormalna primerka (FSB T-torp.08 in FSB T-torp.09) in 4 normal-
ne primerke navadnega električnega skata (FSB T-torp.10 do FSB T-torp.13).
Olfa EL KAMEL-MOUTALIBI et al.: ABNORMALITIES IN COMMON TORPEDOS, TORPEDO TORPEDO (CHONDRICHTHYES: TORPEDINIDAE) ..., 135–142
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
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Pectoral fin 
anterior margin
67.8 26.1 39.8 26.4 56.0 21.5 49.2 18.9 44.2 28.3 35.7 24.0
Pectoral fin 
posterior 
margin
89.3 34.4 48.8 32.4 88.7 34.1 87.6 33.7 49 31.3 48.2 32.3
Pectoral fin 
inner margin
10.2 3.9 6.3 4.2 8.1 3.1 8.2 3.2 4.5 2.9 6 4.0
Pelvic fin 
anterior margin
31.1 12.0 17.1 11.4 27.6 10.6 28.4 10.9 20.2 12.9 14.4 9.7
Pelvic fin 
posterior 
margin
46.6 17.9 26.3 17.5 46.7 18.0 33.7 13.0 26.8 17.1 25.7 17.2
Pelvic fin inner 
margin
7.9 3.0 3.9 2.6 7.9 3.0 3.7 1.4 7 4.5 6 4.0
Span of pelvic 
fins
8.9 3.4 42.1 28.0 79.0 30.4 98.0 37.7 48 30.7 48.3 32.4
Tail base width 19.8 7.6 10.5 7.0 51.1 19.7 47.6 18.3 32 20.5 14.3 9.6
Tail base depth 25.3 9.7 6.6 4.4 16.1 6.2 16.2 6.2 5.5 3.5 8.8 5.9
Tail length 89.1 34.3 49.3 32.8 131.5 50.6 131.0 50.4 76.8 49.1 58.7 39.4
Snout tip to 
first dorsal
155.0 59.6 91.1 60.5 165.0 63.5 160.0 61.5 93 59.5 93 62.4
Snout tip to 
second dorsal
185.0 71.2 105.8 70.3 195.0 75.0 191.0 73.5 111.5 71.3 111 74.5
Snout tip to 
birth of dorsal 
caudal
215.0 82.7 122.0 81.1 221.0 85.0 217.0 83.5 124.9 79.9 125 83.9
Snout tip to 
birth of ventral 
caudal
213.0 81.9 119.6 79.5 218.0 83.8 215.0 82.7 123.2 78.8 123 82.6
Caudal 
superior
37.1 14.3 20.1 13.4 39.5 15.2 43.0 16.5 23.9 15.3 23.4 15.7
Caudal inferior 
edge
34.9 13.4 18.1 12.0 32.1 12.3 34.1 13.1 19.4 12.4 19 12.8
Caudal 
posterior edge
42.6 16.4 16.0 10.6 40.1 15.4 38.4 14.8 24 15.3 24.1 16.2
First dorsal 
anterior edge
29.8 11.5 17.1 11.4 29.9 11.5 32.8 12.6 18.2 11.6 18.2 12.2
First dorsal 
posterior edge
20.7 8.0 9.1 6.1 18.8 7.2 24.6 9.5 11.8 7.5 9.9 6.6
First dorsal 
inner edge
7.6 2.9 3.7 2.5 1.5 0.6 2.5 1.0 2.5 1.6 4.2 2.8
First dorsal 
base
17.1 6.6 9.4 6.3 16.5 6.3 19.0 7.3 14.5 9.3 9.6 6.4
Second dorsal 
anterior edge
24.3 9.3 11.4 7.6 21.3 8.2 25.3 9.7 15.5 9.9 13.8 9.3
Second dorsal 
posterior edge
15.4 5.9 5.1 3.4 13.1 5.0 15.4 5.9 7.3 4.7 7.2 4.8
Second dorsal 
inner edge
6.4 2.4 4.2 2.8 0.7 0.3 1.3 0.5 1.3 0.8 4.3 2.9
Second base 14.3 5.5 7.4 4.9 10.5 4.0 13.1 5.0 9.9 6.3 6.9 4.6
Inter-dorsal 
distance
12.0 4.6 5.5 3.7 10.0 3.8 14.1 5.4 5.3 3.4 6.3 4.2
Second dorsal 
to caudal birth
15.0 5.8 7.3 4.9 13.1 5.0 13.8 5.3 6.3 4.0 6.8 4.6
Caudal careen 45.0 17.3 18.6 12.3 44.0 16.9 43.0 16.5 14 9.0 15.4 10.3
Clasper length 39.5 15.2 34.1 13.1 18.7 12.6
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ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The first specimen, catalogued FSB T.-torp 08, was 
a juvenile male, exhibiting flexible claspers and having 
260 mm in total length and 259.80 g in total body mass 
(Fig. 3). The specimen exhibited an incomplete anterior 
right margin disc due to the fact that the pectoral fin was 
not totally adherent to the head. Such morphological 
abnormality was more evident in ventral surface (Fig. 
3B, 1) than in dorsal surface (Fig. 3A, 1). The specimen 
also presented an incomplete left pelvic fin (Fig. 3A, 2; 
Fig. 3B, 2), which was not the consequence of an injury, 
because no scar was externally visible on the outer mar-
gin of the fin. By contrast, the other regions of the body 
were normally developed, as showed by percents of to-
tal length calculated for specimens FSB T.-torp 08 to FSB 
T.-torp 13 (Tab. 1). Nineteen specimens of similar size 
class than specimen FSB T.-torp 08 were collected in the 
Lagoon of Bizerte; data concerning ranges and means of 
their total length and total mass are presented in Table 2, 
and compared with total length and total mass recorded 
in the abnormal specimen referenced FSB T.-torp 08. No 
difference was observed between them.
The second specimen, catalogued FSB T.-torp 09, 
was 150 mm in total length and weighed 47.4 g. It was 
a juvenile specimen, since in Tunisian waters Torpedo 
torpedo females are considered adult at total length over 
275 mm TL (Quignard & Capapé, 1974; Ennajar et al., 
2002; El Kamel et al., 2009b). The specimen had both 
pectoral fins no totally adherent to the head (Fig. 4A, 
1, 2, 3; Fig. 4B, 1, 2, 3), but this abnormality was very 
slight compared to the one described above for speci-
men FSB T.-tor 08. Additionally, the right pectoral fin of 
FSB T.-torp 09 is incompletely developed at the distal 
end of the posterior margin (Figs. 3, 4).
Pectoral fins non adherent to the head were found 
only in batoid species. Such morphological abnormali-
ties occur when fins fail to fuse together in front of the 
head in early development, according to Bigelow & 
Fig. 4: Abnormal Torpedo torpedo (FSB T-torp.09), scale 
bar = 30 mm. A: dorsal surface; B: ventral surface. Right 
pectoral fin (1) and left pectoral fin (2) non adherent to 
the head; 3 - incomplete left pelvic fin.
Sl. 4: Abnormalen primerek Torpedo torpedo (FSB T-
-torp.09), merilo = 30 mm. A: hrbtna stran; B: trebušna 
stran. Desna prsna plavut (1) in leva prsna plavut (2) se 
ne stikata z glavo; 3 - nepopolna leva trebušna plavut.
Fig. 3: Abnormal Torpedo torpedo (FSB T-torp.08), scale 
bar = 60 mm. A: dorsal surface; B: ventral surface. 1 - 
right pectoral fin non adherent to the head; 2 - incom-
plete left pelvic fin.
Sl. 3: Abnormalen primerek Torpedo torpedo (FSB T-
-torp.08), merilo = 60 mm. A: hrbtna stran; B: trebušna 
stran. 1 - desna prsna plavut se ne stika z glavo; 2 - ne-
popolna leva trebušna plavut.
Olfa EL KAMEL-MOUTALIBI et al.: ABNORMALITIES IN COMMON TORPEDOS, TORPEDO TORPEDO (CHONDRICHTHYES: TORPEDINIDAE) ..., 135–142
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
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Schroeder (1953) and Thorson et al. (1988). They are 
commonly recorded in rajid and dasyatid species. 24 
similar cases were up to date recorded for rajid species 
and 11 cases for dasyatid species (Ribeiro-Prado et al., 
2008), with hardly any for torpedinid species. Three cas-
es were recorded to date in free swimming specimens 
(Tab. 2); two cases concerned the marbled electric ray 
Torpedo marmorata Risso, 1810 and a single case con-
cerned the black torpedo Torpedo nobiliana Bonaparte, 
1835. Mnasri et al. (2010) recorded a similar pattern in 
two embryos carried by a pregnant female T. torpedo. 
Consequently, the two specimens herein described were 
the first swimming T. torpedo which exhibited such ab-
normality. They did not appear to influence the develop-
ment and life of these specimens. This observation was 
in agreement with an interesting instance described by 
Oldfield (2005) in a female ocellated freshwater stingray 
Potamotrygon motoro (Müller & Henle, 1841) placed 
in captivity, which gave birth to a couple of abnormal 
specimens. Oldfield (2005) noted that the first specimen 
died two days after birth while the second specimen 
grew rapidly, and developed a nice colour pattern.
Five specimens presenting different cases of abnor-
malities were reported from the Lagoon of Bizerte (Tab. 
3). This relative occurrence could be explained by the 
pollution affecting a restricted brackish area such as 
the Lagoon of Bizerte, polluted by both inorganic and 
organic nutriments and heavy metals (Mzoughi et al., 
2002; Harzallah, 2003). A sustainable population of 
common torpedos lives buried in sandy and muddy bot-
toms, where such pollutants are accumulated. Additi-
onally, a genetic origin of these abnormalities cannot 
be neglected in this isolated population of T. torpedo in 
which migrations from the open sea into this restricted 
area are reduced to a minimum. However, these suitable 
hypotheses need further confirmation.
Tab. 2: Comparison of total length and total mass of abnormal common torpedos (FSB T-torp.08 and FSB T-torp.09) 
and those of normal specimens of the same size class, all collected in the Lagoon of Bizerte.
Tab. 2: Primerjava celotne dolžine in celotne mase abnormalnih primerkov navadnega električnega skata (FSB T-
-torp.08 in FSB T-torp.09) in normalnih primerkov istega velikostnega razreda, vsi ujeti v Laguni Bizerte.
Tab. 3: Morphological abnormalities recorded in the ichthyological literature in specimens of the genus Torpedo.
Tab. 3: Morfološke nepravilnosti, zabeležene v ihtiološki literaturi pri primerkih iz rodu Torpedo.
Abnormal specimen Normal specimens
FSB T-torp.08 N = 19
Total length 
(mm)
Total mass (dag) Total length: range (mean±SD) Total mass: range (mean±SD)
260 259.8 258-261 (259.7±1.1) 194.8-274.9 (252.1±35.5)
Abnormal specimen Normal specimens
FSB T-torp.09 N = 9
Total length 
(mm)
Total mass (dag) Total length: range (mean±SD) Total mass: range (mean±SD)
150.4 47.4 139-160 (148.8±8.2) 48.4-71.1 (55.2±6.5)
Species Case of abnormality Marine region Authors
T. marmorata Pectoral non adherent to the head Adriatic Sea Valle (1931)
T. marmorata Pectoral non adherent to the head Adriatic Sea Jardas & Homen (1977)
T. nobiliana Pectoral non adherent to the head Atlantic Ocean Palmer & Wheeler (1958)
T. torpedo Surnumerary dorsal fin Lagoon of Bizerte Ben Brahim & Capapé (1997)
T. torpedo Lack of gill-slit Lagoon of Bizerte El Kamel et al. (2009a)
T. torpedo Pectoral non adherent to the head Lagoon of Bizerte Mnasri et al. (2010)
T. torpedo Pectoral non adherent to the head Lagoon of Bizerte Mnasri et al. (2010)
T. torpedo
Pectoral non adherent to the head
Pelvic fin incomplete
Lagoon of Bizerte This study
T. torpedo
Pectoral non adherent to the head
Pelvic fin incomplete
Lagoon of Bizerte This study
Olfa EL KAMEL-MOUTALIBI et al.: ABNORMALITIES IN COMMON TORPEDOS, TORPEDO TORPEDO (CHONDRICHTHYES: TORPEDINIDAE) ..., 135–142
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
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NEPRAVILNOSTI PRI NAVADNEM ELEKTRIČNEM SKATU, TORPEDO TORPEDO 
(CHONDRICHTHYES: TORPEDINIDAE) IZ LAGUNE BIZERTE (SEVERNA TUNIZIJA, 
OSREDNJE SREDOZEMLJE)
Olfa EL KAMEL-MOUTALIBI, Néjia MNASRI & Moncef BOUMAÏZA
Laboratoire d’Hydrobiologie Littorale et Limnique, Université du 07 novembre à Carthage, Faculté des Sciences, Zarzouna, 7021 
Bizerte, Tunisia
Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ
Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Didactique, l’Éducation et la Formation, E. A. 3749, case 77, Université Montpellier 
II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France
E-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr
POVZETEK
Avtorji članka poročajo o dveh abnormalnih primerkih električnega skata Torpedo torpedo Linnaeus 1758, ujetih 
v Laguni Bizerte, severovzhodna Tunizija. Pri obeh primerkih, eden je mladostni primerek samca, drugi pa mladostni 
primerek samice, so zabeležili enaki nepravilnosti, in sicer prsno plavut, ki se ne stika z glavo, in nepopolno trebušno 
plavut. Primerka sta opisana, njune atipične karakteristike pa komentirane in diskutirane.
Ključne besede: Chondrichthyes, Torpedo torpedo, nepravilnosti, Laguna Bizerte, severna Tunizija
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