Hydrurga leptonyx

• Main Authors: Russell A. Mittermeier, Don E. Wilson
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2014
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Carnivora; Phocidae; Hydrurga; Hydrurga leptonyx; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic Fur Seals; Antarctica; Arctocephalus gazella; Crabeater Seals; Elephant Seal; Leopard Seal; Leopard Seals; Mirounga leonina; Prydz Bay; Pygoscelis adeliae; Southern Elephant Seal; Weddell Seals
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6607216; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/464F694FFFACA851FFB8D7FE91F7FDE0

5. Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx French: Phoque |éopard / German: Seeleopard / Spanish: Foca leopardo Other common names: Sea Leopard Taxonomy. Phoca leptonyx de Blainville, 1820, “des environs des iles Falckland ou Malouines” (= Falkland Islands, UK). This species is monotypic. Distribution. Antarctic and subantarctic cold waters between 50° S and 80° S. Descriptive notes. Total length 250-320 cm (males) and 241-338 cm (females); weight 200-455 kg (males) and c.225-590 kg (females). Newborns are c.120 cm in length and weigh ¢.30 kg. Female Leopard Seals tend to be larger than males. Leopard Seals have narrow but still relatively massive heads, with wide and long gapes, robust canine and post-canine teeth, and powerful jaws. Torso is robust, foreflippers long and powerfully propulsive, and rest of body quickly tapering and slim. Pelage is dark gray dorsally with scattered spots and blotches, and countershaded ventrum is silver and heavily spotted. Habitat. Primarily pack-ice habitats in Antarctic waters. Leopard Seals appear to be mostly solitary and, although widespread, are not particularly abundant. Food and Feeding. Leopard Seals have a very diverse diet that changes with seasonal and local abundance of prey. Most prey is caught in the water. Leopard Seals feed on fish, cephalopods,krill, and even warm-blooded prey such as Subantarctic Fur Seals (Arctocephalus tropicalis), Antarctic Fur Seals (Arctocephalus gazella), Australian Sea Lions (Neophoca cinerea), New Zealand Sea Lion (Phocarctos hookeri), Crabeater Seals (Lobodon carcinophaga), Ross Seals (Ommatophoca rossii), and Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina), with a focus on young Crabeater Seals and Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes weddellit). Leopard Seals are known to prey on penguins (Spheniscidae). From mid-October to mid-February (summer) in Prydz Bay, Antarctica, male and female Leopards Seals used five different hunting styles to prey on a seasonally available breeding colony of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae): patrolling fast-ice edges ...