Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

Species Page

Back to: «« Search Page | « Results Page

Add to My List

Hydrurga leptonyx

Leopard Seal

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Skin on Rarotonga, probably 1956	32KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Leopard Seal, Sea-Leopard

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Antarctica - nearby islands, winter vagrant to s.Aust - NZ - s.Africa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Vagrant, Non-breeder; Marine

KEY FEATURES: Adults to 3.5m and around 350kg. A seal without external ears and with rearward pointing hind-flippers. It has a small head and a long neck. Topside dark grey with light and dark spots, underside silver with black spots; distinct line of demarcation. Lives and breeds in Antartica and sub-Antarctic islands. Moves northward during southern winter somtime reaching s.Australia and mainland NZ. The one which reached Rarotonga in the 1960s is the only tropical record.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Crabeater has smaller head, lacks line of demarcation along sides, lacks spots but often has scars. Cheek teeth are definitive: Weddell Seal 1-2-cusped, Leopard Seal 3-cusped, and Crabeater Seal 4-5-cusped.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: OPresent Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
OP	-	-			-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Hydrurga leptonyx (Blainville, 1820)
SYNONYMS: Ogmorhinus leptonyx

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; MAMMALIA; THERIA; EUTHERIA; Pinnipedia; Phocoidea; PHOCIDAE, Monachinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: skin photo by Ron Powell; probably of animal killed 28/6/1956 in CI Review July 1956 p.10 noting that all that remained was the mutilated hide; ID from photo by GMcC.

References:
Special Reference: FAO-ID 1985 Southern Ocean 2:446-447; CI Review July 1956 p.10 fate of animal on Rarotonga in 1956.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
Please refer to our use policy.

Biodiversity Database: More Options | Help

My List: View List | Edit List | Clear List