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Crabeater seal - LOBODON CARCINOPHAGUS
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Seal": "Seal" comes from the Old English word "seolh," for the animal.
Location: Coasts of Antarctica and of the major islands of the southern seas
Habitat: Coastal and open waters in the Antarctic Ocean.
Description: The pelt is light brown, and the whole body is covered with white spots. The front fins are dark. In summer the color is paler, tending to cream. In January, when molting takes place, the brown coat reappears. The cheek teeth have elaborate cusps. This seal female grows over nine feet long and weighs over 500 pounds, with the males slightly smaller.
Behavior: Although this is the most common seal in the southern seas, little is known about its habits. It is gregarious, and spends much of the year in water. It feeds on kriIl, which it gathers by swimming at great speed with its mouth wide open, and then ejecting the water, through the spaces in its teeth. These seals move with drifting ice occasionally reaching the coasts of South America, New Zealand, and Australia.
Reproduction: The single young are born in September through November, and presumably, mating takes place at this time also, although it has never been observed.
Go to the Carnivora Page to learn more about the all the meat-eating animals.
Or go to the Seal Index to study other
seals.
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