Harp seal
| Harp seal | |
|---|---|
CITES Appendix III
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Parvorder: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Subfamily: | Phocinae |
| Tribe: | Phocini |
| Genus: | Pagophilus Gray, 1844 |
| Species: | P. groenlandicus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pagophilus groenlandicus (Erxleben, 1777)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Phoca groenlandica | |
The harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus), also known as the saddleback seal or Greenland seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus Phoca with a number of other species, it was reclassified into the monotypic genus Pagophilus in 1844. In Greek, its scientific name translates to "Greenlandic ice-lover", and its taxonomic synonym, Phoca groenlandica translates to "Greenlandic seal". This is the only species in the genus Pagophilus.