Mediterranean monk seal
| Mediterranean monk seal | |
|---|---|
| The monk seal on Mornar Beach, in Pula, Croatia. | |
CITES Appendix I
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Parvorder: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Subfamily: | Monachinae |
| Tribe: | Monachini |
| Genus: | Monachus Fleming, 1822 |
| Species: | M. monachus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Monachus monachus (Hermann, 1779)
| |
The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. As of 2015, it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Aegean Sea, the archipelago of Madeira, and the Cabo Blanco area in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean spanning the border of Mauritania and Western Sahara. It is believed to be the world's rarest pinniped species. It is the only extant species in the genus Monachus, the other two monk seal species being in Neomonachus.