Enhydra lutris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Sea otter
Enhydra lutris
photo by FAO

Family:  Mustelidae (mustelids)
Max. size:  148 cm TL (male/unsexed); 140 cm TL (female); max.weight: 45 kg; max.weight: 33 kg
Environment:  bathydemersal; marine; depth range 0 - 25 m
Distribution:  Pacific Ocean: Enhydra lutris lutris: Russia, Kamchatka, Kuril Island, Hokkaido; Enhydra lutris kenyoni: Aleutian and Pribilof Islands, east along the south shore of the Alaska Peninsula, northeast to Prince William Sound, and thence southeast to Washington State; Enhydra lutris nereis: from northern California south to Morro Hermoso in Baja California Norte, including the Farallon Islands, Channel Islands; Mexico (Ref. 1522).
Diagnosis:   
Biology:  Found in shallow nearshore waters. Feeds on or near the bottom in shallow waters (often in kelp beds); on benthic invertebrates (i.e. abalones, sea urchins, rock crabs, other shellfishes, cephalopods, and sluggish near-bottom fishes) (Ref. 1394). It is preyed upon by great white sharks (Ref. 32140).
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN); Date assessed: 21 January 2020 Ref. 123251)
Threat to humans: 
Country info:   
 

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