Also, the Stargazer species along the Atlantic Coast generate a shock from their heads, not just the ones from Australia.

As MatteBille points out, it does seem unlikely that a biologist at some time has not handled a P. velox and experienced a shock if it is indeed capable of delivering one and that no one has ever observed what must be a large electric organ upon dissection. I am trying to locate mammalogists who have worked on tenrecs in Africa to ask them these very questions. It is possible that no one has ever had observed a live P. velox in captivity and also possible that no one has looked for an electric organ upon skinning one. IMO, the only place for an electric organ in P. velox would be in its muscular tail. Examination of the tail musculature in a dead P. velox would surely reveal unusual anatomy if it contained an electric organ, but it is not inconceivable that it could have escaped the notice of those who have prepared museum skins.

As I say, I will report back when I learn more.

What you said about an unknown animal’s attributes being made somewhat larger than life is exactly what I was getting at when speculating about whether this was perhaps an electric catfish shock mistakenly attributed to a known or unknown mammal. The source says the delineation is clear between the behavior of the two, but if there is the understanding that attributes can be over exaggerated, then I wonder if an electric catfish shock might not have been overblown as well. If this were the case, with the shock exaggerated and attributed to another animal, then it seems to me that the behavior of this proposed electrogenic mammal would be the result of making the mundane more fantastic than it perhaps really is.

Then again, I suppose it is stretching a bit for me to think that experienced fishermen could make a mistake like that with animals they are no doubt familiar with. Ah well, I just like speculating on these things.

Also, as mentioned, it is assumed the locals are talking about a known animal with a electrogenic organ used to kill fish to eat them. But by technical definition, this animal would be a cryptid, an unknown animal, until it is identified positively.

Furthermore, in the beginning of any cryptozoological investigation, the usual understanding is that the “new animal” will be made fantastic or at least it’s behavior, size, and attributes might be made to be larger than life.

BTW, my informant reports there was a very clear division between the electrogenic behavior of this cryptid mammal and that said to be caused by the local electric catfish.

I won’t discount the possibility of an electrogenic mammal, but I’m trying to look at other possible explanations first here before jumping to a completely unknown type of mammal. I wonder if there is a possibility that this animal they speak of is also a piscivore and preys on the same species as other electrogenic fish in the area, in which case there would be a chance that fisherman would capture them together. This seems reasonably possible since the reports that were given involved fishermen who caught them in their nets. If this were true and the mammal in question was captured with an electrogenic species, then perhaps it was in fact the fish that shocked the fishermen and somehow the “shrew” was mistakenly blamed as the culprit. Word of mouth and tall tales could easily exaggerate the level of electric shock given and before you know it, there is an alleged electrogenic mammal running around. I’m not saying this is the case, but it is as good a possibility as any given the facts we have to go on.

I definitely would be excited by a find of this type, though, and hopefully there will be a specimen to examine that will shed light on the phenomena.

Case in point - the platypus - only the males have the spurs.

Darkshines - as Ceroill says - platypuses are mammals (as you say, that lay eggs). Other mammals include the marsupials which give birth to bean-sized young that make their way to the marsupium (pouch) where they continue their development until independence (eg kangaroo), and those which give birth to fairly fully-formed young (eg humans).

Did you know that the South American knife and elephant fishes which produce electric pulses are used in water treatment plants? By measuring the electrical activity in the water generated by these fish, scientists can determine the amount of chemical pollutants present. They form a sort of last safety check before the water is declared safe. In the wild these fishes use their electrogenic ability for communication. Although Matt mentioned these are small fish, together they comprise over 300 species.

The Australian deep-sea stargazer is also an electrogenic fish producing about 20 volts.

I was gonna say it looks like an Otter Rat to me. Or a Rat Otter.