The electric ray, (Narcobatus fairchildi), or whai repo of the Maoris, has a sharklike tail, but the front of the body is expanded as a large flat disc. It is black and grows up to about 4 ft in length. There is no spine on the tail, but the fish has the remarkable ability of inflicting a powerful electric shock. Beneath the skin on each side of the forward flukes of the body there are intricate cells, connected with the nervous system, which serve to produce an electric discharge capable of giving a human being quite a severe shock.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.