Black Sea harbour porpoise
| Black Sea harbour porpoise | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Suborder: | Whippomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Phocoenidae |
| Genus: | Phocoena |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | P. p. relicta |
| Trinomial name | |
| Phocoena phocoena relicta Abel, 1905 | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Black Sea harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta) is a subspecies of the harbour porpoise common in the Azov, Black, Marmara, and Aegean Seas. It is the only representative of the family in the fauna of these areas and is considered a narrow-range relict subspecies. This dolphin is often called the "guinea pig" because of its up to four centimetres thick layer of subcutaneous fat and noisy breathing, similar to "grunting."