black sea red data book - Department of Biology

Phocoena phocoena Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms: Phocoena relicta Abel, 1905; Phocoena phocoena relicta Abel, 1905
Common names: Engl: Harbour porpoise; Bulg: Mutkur, Morska svinya; Rom:
Marsuin, Focena, Pore de mare; Russ: Morskaya svinya chernomorskaya, Azovka;
Turk: Mutur; Ukr: Azovka, Pykhtun
Order CETACEA
Family PHOCOENIDAE
Taxonomic description. The single representative of this genus and family in the
Black Sea fauna. In Bulgaria, Georgia, the Russian Federation and Ukraine the
Harbour porpoise is known as a relict sub-species, P. phocoena relicta.. However, to
date there are no comparative genetic and/or morphometric data, which reliably
support its distinctive status. Moreover, most zoologists of the former USSR do not
accept the existence of the family Phocoenidae, and continue to list P. phocoena
among the Delphinidae. External distinctions: blunt, short-beaked head; slightly
falcate, wide-based, short dorsal fin; small, spatulate, blunt teeth.
IUCN Status
World level: DD
Black Sea Regional level: DD
Subregion level: EN in Ukraine and Romania, VU in Bulgaria
Distribution, Habitat type, Critical habitats, Limiting factors. Coastal, relatively
shallow waters along the perimeter of the Black Sea constitute the typical range of the
Harbour porpoise. Animals do not avoid waters with low salinity and transparency;
sometimes they invade semi-fresh bays, lagoons, estuaries. In the Danube and Don
they occur far from the sea. Every spring significant numbers move through the
Kerch Strait to the Sea of Azov and return by winter. A migration through the
Bosphorus to the Sea of Marmara and back is possible. Perhaps, both small seas are
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