Introduction

The extent to which representitives of this family enter Australian waters is poorly known. Australophocaena dioptrica is usually associated with the temperate and cold water coasts of South America. Members of this family are generally estuarine and neritic.

The cranium is inflated and the jaws are not beaked. The spade-like teeth have two or three lobed crowns. The dorsal fin is usually triangular and located about mid-way down the dorsum. Between three and seven cervical vertebrae may be fused.

They are gregarious, but group size apears to be usually less than twenty individuals. The diet is mainly schooling fish and squid.

The species Phoecoena spinipinnis Burmeister, 1865 was reported from Heard Island (Guiler et al. 1987), but the specimen has since been reidentified as Australophoecaena dioptrica (Brownell et al. 1989).

General References

Bannister, J.L., Kemper, C.M. & Warneke, R.M. 1996. The Action Plan for Australian Cetaceans. Canberra : Australian Nature Conservation Agency 242 pp.

Brownell, R.L., Heyning, J.E. & Perrin, W.F. 1989. A porpoise Austalophoecoena dioptrica previously identified as Phocoena spinipinnis from Heard Island. Marine Mammal Science 5: 193-195 [publication date established from Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1853–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84]

Bryden, M.M. 1989. Phocoenidae. pp. 979-981 in Walton, D.W. & Richardson, B.J. (eds). Fauna of Australia. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1B 827 pp.

Guiler, E.R., Burton, H.R. & Gales, N.J. 1987. On three odontocete skulls from Heard Island. Science Reports of the Whales Research Institute 38: 117-124

History of changes

• Phocaena Cuvier, G.L.C.F.D. 1817. Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle appliquée aux arts ... par une Société de naturalistes et d'agriculteurs. Paris. [163] [replacement name for Phocoena Cuvier].
• Phocoena Cuvier, G.L. 1816. Le Régne Animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. L'Introduction, les Mammiéres et les Oiseaux. Paris : Déterville Vol. 1 xxxvii 540 pp. [279].

  Type species:

   Phocoena phocoena Cuvier, 1816 by absolute tautonymy.

  Secondary source:

   Mead, J.G. & Brownell, R.L. 1993. Order Cetacea. pp. 349-364 in Wilson, D.E. & Reeder, D-A. M. (eds). Mammal species of the world: A taxonomic and geographic reference. Second Edition. Washington : Smithsonian Institute 1206 pp. [358].
• Australophocaena Barnes, L.G. 1985. Evolution, taxonomy and antitropical distribution of the the porpoises (Phocoenidae, Mammalia). Marine Mammal Science 1: 149-163 [153].

Distribution

States

South Australia, Tasmania

Extra Distribution Information

Circumglobal, mainly cold-temperate waters.

IMCRA

Macquarie Island Province (24), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Antarctic Region

• Subantarctic Islands

Australian Region

• Australia
  • 200 m bathymetric: G. Aust. Bight, S Gulfs coast, SW coast, Tas. Coast
  • 200 mile fishing zone: S oceanic

Distribution References

History of changes

• Phocaena dioptrica Lahille, F. 1912. Nota preliminar sobre una nueva especie de Marsopa del rio dela Plata. (Phocaena dioptrica). Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Buenos Aires 23: 269-278 [269].

  Type data:

   Holotype MCNBA whole animal in spirit, Punta Colares, near Quilmes, Rio de la Plata, Argentina.

  Secondary source:

   Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259 [102]

Distribution

States

South Australia, Tasmania

Extra Distribution Information

Strandings from South Australia and Tasmania; recently identified from Macquarie Is. (specimen at NMV), western South Atlantic, probably circumpolar in Subantarctic latitudes, especially near islands and along continental coasts.

IMCRA

Macquarie Island Province (24), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36)

Ecological Descriptors

Aquatic, continental shelf, oceanic, pelagic.

General References

Bannister, J.L., Kemper, C.M. & Warneke, R.M. 1996. The Action Plan for Australian Cetaceans. Canberra : Australian Nature Conservation Agency 242 pp.

Brownell, R.L. 1975. Phocoena dioptrica. Mammalian Species 66: 1-3

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [116] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement as Australophocoena (sic) dioptrica)

Goodall, R.N.P. 2002. Spectacled porpoise. pp. 1158-1161 in Perrin, W.F., Wursig, B. & Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds). Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. San Diego : Academic Press.

Goodall, R.N.P. & Schiavini, A.C.M. 1995. On the biology of the spectacled porpoise, Australophocoena dioptrica. Reports of the International Whaling Commission Special Issue 16: 411-543

Leatherwood, S. & Reeves, R.R. 1983. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. San Francisco : Sierra Club Books xviii 302 pp.

Mead, J.G. & Brownell, R.L. 1993. Order Cetacea. pp. 349-364 in Wilson, D.E. & Reeder, D-A. M. (eds). Mammal species of the world: A taxonomic and geographic reference. Second Edition. Washington : Smithsonian Institute 1206 pp. [358] (for extralimital synonymy)

Watson, L. 1981. Sea Guide to Whales of the World. London : Hutchinson 302 pp.

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Spectacled Porpoise)

History of changes