Histriophoca fasciata

• 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; Histriophoca; Histriophoca fasciata; Arctic cod; Bering Sea; Boreogadus saida; Chukchi; Alaska; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6607259; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/464F694FFFA6A85AFAB1D5F8941EFC8E

12. Ribbon Seal Histriophoca fasciata French: Phoque rubané / German: Bandrobbe / Spanish: Foca listada Taxonomy. Phoca fasciata Zimmermann, 1783, “Wohnt um die Kurilischen Inseln” (= Russia, Kuril Islands). This species is monotypic. Distribution. E Siberian, Chukchi, W Beaufort, and Bering seas, and Sea of Okhotsk, and high latitudes of the N Pacific Ocean, from Hokkaido and the N Sea of japan lo Alaska. Descriptive notes. Total length c.150-175 cm; weight 70-110 kg. Newborns are ¢.90 cm in length and weigh c.10 kg. Ribbon Seals are relatively small, with large eyes and exceptionally striking body coloration. Young Ribbon Seals are uniform color, but a banding pattern begins to develop during the first couple of years oflife. Adult males have broad white bands around their necks, front flippers, and body just in front of pelvis against a dark brown to black background. Adult females have a lighter brown to gray general background and fainter bands. Front flippers of Ribbon Seals are small but have robust, strong claws that appear to be adapted to help them haul-out in fast ice (ice fastened to land) and pack ice. Habitat. Mostly restricted to the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk, although recent studies have revealed that they range widely into the North Pacific Ocean during spring, summer, and autumn after the breeding season and after the fast ice melts and packice habitats recede. During winter and early spring, Ribbon Seals are mostly found in coastal fast-ice and near-shore, pack-ice habitats off eastern Russia and Japan and in pack-ice habitats of the central Bering Sea and north-western Alaska (USA). As ice melts and recedes, Ribbon Seals appear to be mostly pelagic, roaming over large areas in the Bering Sea, near the Aleutian Islands, into the Beaufort and Chukchiseas, and south into the central North Pacific Ocean. Food and Feeding. In spring, Ribbon Seals have a relatively diverse diet of shrimp, squid, and fish such as Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida and Arctogadus spp.), saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis), ...