Like other members of its family, the marbled electric ray can produce a strong electric shock for attack and defense, produced by a pair of electric organs derived from muscle tissue. Each electric organ consists of 400–600 vertical columns, with each column composed of a stack of roughly 400 jelly-filled "electroplates" that essentially act like a battery. This ray has been measured producing up to 70–80 volts, and the maximum potential of the electric discharge has been estimated to be as high as 200 volts. The strength of the electric shock declines progressively as the ray becomes fatigued. Experiments "in vitro" have found that the nerves innervating the electric organ essentially stop functioning at temperatures below . As the water temperature in the wild regularly drops below this threshold in winter, it is possible that the ray does not use its electric organ for part of the year. Alternately, the ray may have a yet-unknown physiological mechanism to adapt electric organ function to the cold.