? Spectacled Porpoise Conservation status: Unknown
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Cetacea Suborder: Odontoceti Family: Phocoenidae Genus: Phocoena Species: P. dioptrica
Binomial name
Phocoena dioptrica Lahille, 1912
Spectacled Porpoise range

The Spectacled Porpoise (Phocoena dioptrica) is a rarely seen member of the porpoise family. The species is readily distinguished from other porpoises by a characteristic dark ring around the eyes, which gives the animals their name. This ring is commonly surrounded by a farther lighter ring. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Placozoa (trichoplax) Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Eutheria (includes extinct ancestors)/Placentalia (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata (extinct) Perissodactyla Pholidota Plesiadapiformes... Suborders Mysticeti Odontoceti (see text for families) The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. ... Families See text The toothed whales (systematic name Odontoceti) form a suborder of the cetaceans. ... Genera Neophocaena Phocoena - Harbor porpoises Phocoenoides - Dalls porpoises The porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. ... Genera Neophocaena Phocoena - Harbor porpoises Phocoenoides - Dalls porpoises The porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 34 KB) Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Genera Neophocaena Phocoena - Harbor porpoises Phocoenoides - Dalls Porpoises The porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. ...

Taxonomy

The Spectacled Porpoise was first described by Lahille in 1912 from a specimen found on a beach near Buenos Aires. A skull later found in Tierra del Fuego was initially thought to be another species, provisionally named Phocoena dioptrica but the individual was later shown to be a spectacled porpoise and this name remains a synonym. The Latin word dioptrica refers to the double eye rings characterizing the creature. Buenos Aires (Good Airs in Spanish, originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires meaning City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, as... Tierra del Fuego (Spanish: Land of Fire) is an archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America. ...

Physical description

The Spectacled Porpoise is a robust creature with a small head and no beak. Males have a large dorsal fin. Individuals are dark grey to black on the dorsal fin with a very distinct line to a white to light grey ventral side. Newborn members of this species are about 80 cm with males growing up to 2.2 m and females somewhat smaller. The age at which they reach maturity, as well as a porpoise's longevity, is unknown. The Spectacled Porpoise is a fast swimmer.

Distribution and population

The Spectacled Porpoise is believed to be circumpolar in cool sub-Antarctic and low Antarctic waters. Many skeletons have been found on Tierra del Fuego and this area is believed to be a site of relatively high concentration. This species has been seen off Brazil, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia in the Atlantic, off Auckland, Tasmania and south Australia in the South Pacific and Heard Island and Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean. Individuals have very rarely been seen in the open sea. The southernmost sighting was in the Drake Passage at 58° S. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by Argentina. ... Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... Motto: Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Nickname: The Apple Isle Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Governor Premier Const. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ... Heard Island, from NASA World Wind Heard Island and the McDonald Islands are uninhabited, barren islands located in the Southern Ocean at 53°6S, 72°31E, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. ... The Kerguelen Archipelago is in the southern Indian Ocean at 49°20 S, 70°20 E. The main island Kerguelen, originally called Desolation Island, is 6,675 km2 and it is surrounded by another 300 smaller outcrops, forming an archipelago of 7,215 km². The climate is cold, very windy... Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica. ...

The total population is unknown. The IUCN lists it as a data deficient species in the Red List of Threatened Species. The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• Spectacled Porpoise factsheet page from phocoena.org contains an image of the species