| Hooded seal[1] | |
|---|---|
| |
| Specimen at Museum Koenig | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Clade: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Subfamily: | Phocinae |
| Genus: | Cystophora Nilsson, 1820 |
| Species: | C. cristata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cystophora cristata (Erxleben, 1777)
| |
| |
| Distribution of the hooded seal. Breeding grounds indicated in blue. | |
The hooded seal or bladdernose seal (Cystophora cristata) is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic, ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. The seals are typically silver-grey or white in color, with black spots that vary in size covering most of the body.[3] Hooded seal pups are known as "blue-backs" because their coats are blue-grey on the back with whitish bellies. This coat is shed after 14 months of age when the pups molt.[4] It is the only species in the genus Cystophora.
- ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Kovacs, K.M. (2016). "Cystophora cristata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T6204A45225150. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T6204A45225150.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Kovacs, Kit. "Hooded Seal". Noerwegian Polar Institute.
- ^ "Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata)". National Marine Fisheries Service. 5 October 2022.