French naturalist Antoine Risso described the marbled electric ray as Torpedo marmorata in his 1810 Ichtyologie de Nice, ou histoire naturelle des poissons du département des Alpes maritimes (Ichthyology of Nice, or natural history of fishes in the Alpes-Maritimes).
Within the genus Torpedo, the marbled electric ray belongs to the subgenus Torpedo, which differs from the other subgenus Tetronarce in having fringed margins on their spiracles and generally ornate dorsal coloration [REF].