Spotted seal

Spotted seal
In Echizen Matsushima Aquarium, Japan
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Clade: Pinnipedia
Family: Phocidae
Genus: Phoca
Species:
P. largha
Binomial name
Phoca largha
Pallas, 1811
Spotted seal distribution

The spotted seal (Phoca largha),[2] also known as the larga seal or largha seal, is a member of the family Phocidae, and is considered a "true seal". It inhabits ice floes and waters of the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. It is primarily found along the continental shelf of the Beaufort, Chukchi, Bering and Okhotsk Seas[3] and south to the northern Yellow Sea and it migrates south as far as northern Huanghai and the western Sea of Japan. It is also found in Alaska from the southeastern Bristol Bay to Demarcation Point during the ice-free seasons of summer and autumn when spotted seals mate and have pups. Smaller numbers are found in the Beaufort Sea.[4] It is sometimes mistaken for the harbor seal to which it is closely related and spotted seals and harbor seals often mingle together in areas where their habitats overlap.[5]

The reduction in arctic ice floes due to global warming led to concerns that the spotted seal was threatened with extinction. Studies were conducted on its population numbers, with the conclusion, as of October 15, 2009, that the spotted seal population in Alaskan waters is not currently to be listed as endangered by NOAA.[6]

  1. ^ Boveng, P. (2016). "Phoca largha". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T17023A45229806. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T17023A45229806.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Phoca vitulina largha Pallas, 1811. Integrated Taxonomic Information System
  3. ^ Saundry, Peter (2010). Spotted seal. Encyclopedia of Earth. topic ed. C.Michael Hogan. ed in chief C. Cleveland, National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC
  4. ^ Burns, John J. (1994). "Spotted Seal: Wildlife Notebook Series – Alaska Department of Fish and Game". www.adfg.state.ak.us. Archived from the original on 2009-03-24. Retrieved 2009-10-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "National Marine Mammal Laboratory". www.afsc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  6. ^ "NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – NOAA Will Not List Bering Spotted Seal as Endangered or Threatened". www.noaanews.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2009-10-15.