Phoca vitulina Linnaeus 1758

• 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; Phoca; Phoca vitulina; Baja; Gulf of Alaska; Canada; Pacific; Ungava Peninsula; Foca; common seal; foca moteada; harbor seal; harbour seal; Kamchatka; North Atlantic; phoque commun; Ungava peninsula; Alaska; seehund
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6607263; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6607263

14. Harbor Seal Phoca vitulina French: Phoque commun / German: Seehund / Spanish: Foca moteada Other common names: Common Seal, Harbour Seal; Eastern Atlantic Harbor Seal (vitulina); Western Atlantic Harbor Seal (concolor); Eastern Pacific Harbor Seal (richardii); Kuril Seal, Western Pacific Harbor Seal (stejnegeri) Taxonomy. Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758, “in mari Europzo.” Restricted by O. Thomas in 1911 to “Mari Bothnico et Baltico.” Some authors recognize a subspecies, mellonae (Seal Lakes or Ungava seal), from lakes and rivers of Ungava Peninsula in Canada, but it 1s not included here. The four subspecies of P. vitulina, two in the North Pacific Ocean and two in the North Atlantic Ocean, are distinguishable based on morphology and genetics, but geographical boundaries separating richardii from steynegeri (North Pacific) and vitulina from concolor (North Atlantic) are not precisely known. Four subspecies recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. P.v.vitulinaLinnaeus,1758—NEAtlanticOceanincludingSvalbardStoNWFrance(Brittany),withoccasionalsightingsasfarSasNPortugal;Wboundaryuncertain,perhapsIceland. P.v.concolorDeKay,1842—NWAtlanticOcean,frommid-AtlanticUSAtotheCanadianArcticandEtoGreenland;Eboundaryuncertain,perhapsIceland. P. v. richardGray, 1864 — NE Pacific Ocean, from Aleutian Is through the Gulf of Alaska (including Iliamna Lake) S to the coast of Baja California (N Mexico); contact zone with stejnegert may occur in W Alaska Peninsula-E Aleutian Is. P. v. stejnegeri Allen, 1902 — NW Pacific Ocean along the coast of Russian Far East, from Kamchatka, the Kuril Is to N Japan (Hokkaido) and E to the Aleutian Is; contact zone with richardii may occur in E Aleutian Is—W Alaska Peninsula. Descriptive notes. Total length c.140-190 cm (males) and ¢.120-170 cm (females); weight ¢.100-140 kg (males) and c.80-120 kg (females). Newborns are 75-100 cm in length and weigh 8-12 kg. Harbor Seals are moderate-sized phocid carnivores, with rounded heads. Average length varies among populations; the largest Harbor Seals ...