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Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758) Harbour porpoise |
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photo by
FAO |
| Family: | Phocoenidae (porpoises) | |||
| Max. size: | 200 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 70 kg | |||
| Environment: | pelagic; marine, oceanodromous | |||
| Distribution: | Mediterranean and Black Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Arctic: Phocoena phocoena phocoena: Baffin Island, Labrador, Newfoundland, Gulf of St. Lawrence, North Carolina, Greenland, Iceland, Faroes, Russia, Portugal, Baltic Sea [Baltic Sea population: IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): CR, C2a(ii).], Gulf of Finland, Gulf of Bosnia, British Isles, Tunisia, Spain, Morocco, Senegal; Phocoena phocoena relicta: Black Sea, Sea of Azov, Bosporus (Turkey), Sea of Marmara, northern Aegean Sea; Phocoena phocoena subsp.: Russia, Aleutian Islands (Alaska), Sea of Okhotsk, Japan, Bering Strait; Phocoena phocoena vomerina: Pribilof Islands, USA, Canada (Ref. 1522). | |||
| Diagnosis: | ||||
| Biology: | Found in shallow water, most often nearshore, although they occasionally travel over deeper offshore waters (Ref. 1394). Uses echo-location for orientation and foraging by emitting high frequency click sounds (Ref. 96345). Feeds on a wide variety of fish and cephalopods; small, non-spiny schooling fish (such as herring and mackerel) (Ref. 1394). | |||
| IUCN Red List Status: | (LC); Date assessed: 19 May 2020 Ref. 123251) | |||
| Threat to humans: | ||||
| Country info: | Reported as Phocoena phocoena phocoena in Bosporus and Sea of Marmara (Ref. 1522) but strong genetic and morphological evidence suggests species as Phocoena phocoena relicta in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, Sea of Marmara and northern Aegean Sea (Ref. 128073). | |||