Younger individuals generally inhabit shallower, sandy or muddy habitats, whereas adults are more pelagic in nature and frequent open water.

Distinctive characteristics include its uniform dark color, smooth-rimmed spiracles (paired respiratory openings behind the eyes), and two dorsal fins of unequal size.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed this species as Least Concern; it is caught unintentionally by commercial and recreational fishers, but the impact of these activities on its population is unknown.

The first scientific description of the Atlantic torpedo was published in 1835 by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte, in his principal work Iconografia della Fauna Italica.

[5] The Atlantic torpedo has a nearly circular pectoral fin disc 1.2 times as wide as it is long, with a thick and nearly straight front margin.

The stout tail comprises about one-third of the total length, terminating in a caudal fin shaped like an equilateral triangle with slightly convex margins.

[10] Juvenile Atlantic torpedoes are primarily bottom-dwelling and usually found at depths of 10–50 m (33–164 ft) over sandy or muddy flats, or near coral reefs.

These organs comprise one-sixth of the ray's total weight and contain around half a million jelly-filled "electric plates" arranged in an average of 1,025–1,083 vertical hexagonal columns (visible beneath the skin).

These columns essentially act as batteries connected in parallel, enabling a large Atlantic torpedo to produce up to a kilowatt of electricity at 170–220 volts, provided that it is well-fed and rested.

[8] Known parasites of the Atlantic torpedo include the tapeworms Calyptrobothrium occidentale and C. minus,[13] Grillotia microthrix,[14] Monorygma sp.,[15] and Phyllobothrium gracile,[16] the monogeneans Amphibdella flabolineata and Amphibdelloides maccallumi,[17] and the copepod Eudactylina rachelae.

[19] The diet of the Atlantic torpedo consists mainly of bony fishes, including flatfishes, salmon, eels, and mullet, though it has also been known to take small catsharks and crustaceans.

At the moment of contact, the ray traps the prey against its body or the bottom by curling its pectoral fin disc around it, while delivering strong electric shocks.

[21] The ray's highly distensible jaws allow surprisingly large prey to be ingested: an intact salmon weighing 2 kg (4 lb) has been found in the stomach of one individual, and another contained a summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) 37 cm (15 in) long.

[21] The Atlantic torpedo is aplacental viviparous: the developing embryos are sustained by yolk, which is later supplemented by protein and fat-enriched histotroph ("uterine milk") produced by the mother.

[1][19] The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assesses the Atlantic torpedo as Least Concern; it could be negatively affected by fishing mortality, though specific data on catch rates and population trends are lacking, as well as by the degradation of coral reefs that are important to juveniles.

In the 1st century, Roman physician Scribonius Largus wrote of the application of live "dark torpedo" to patients afflicted with gout or chronic headaches.