Mirounga leonina   (Linnaeus, 1758)

Southern elephant seal

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Mirounga leonina  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Mirounga leonina

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Mammalia | Carnivora | Phocidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 8000 m (Ref. 1394), usually 1000 - 5000 m.  Polar; 0°N - 90°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-Pacific, Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic: Circumpolar in the Southern Hemisphere, Skeleton coast of Namibia around the Cape to Ilha Bazaruto in Mozambique. Polar, temperate.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 685 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 99323); 300 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 5.0 t (Ref. 99323); max. published weight: 5.0 t

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Prefers sandy and cobble beaches, but will haul out on ice, snow or rocky terrace); they venture inland into tussock grass and other vegetation, and frequently lie in mud wallows. Feeds on 75% cephalopods and 25% fish. Maximum measurements for female species based from Ref. 1394. Reported from 0 m- m (Ref. 1394) but is observed to occur at greater depths based on more recent data (Kaschner, K. pers. comm., 20/10/14).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Jefferson, T.A., S. Leatherwood and M.A. Webber. 1993. (Ref. 1394)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 12 December 2014

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Trophic Ecology
Food items
Diet
Food consumption
Ration
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth
Age/Size
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Human Related
Aquaculture profile
Stamps, Coins Misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 0.1 - 1.6, mean 0.8 (based on 16947 cells).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): High to very high vulnerability (75 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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