The subantarctic fur seal (''Arctocephalus tropicalis'') is found in the southern parts of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. It was first described by Gray in 1872 from a specimen recovered in northern Australia—hence the inappropriate specific name ''tropicalis''.

Description

The subantarctic fur seal is medium in size compared with other fur seals. Males grow to 2m and 160 kg, whereas females are substantially smaller—1.4m and 50 kg. Both sexes are strongly sexually dimorphic, with creamy-orange chests and faces. Their bellies are more brownish. Males have a dark grey to black back, while females are a lighter grey. Pups are black at birth, but molt at about 3 months old. The snout is short and flat, and the flippers are short and broad. Subantarctic fur seals live for about 20–25 years.

Distribution

Subantarctic fur seals are geographically widespread. As their name implies, they generally breed in more northerly locations than the Antarctic fur seals. The largest breeding colonies are on

Gough Island upright=1.3, Map of Gough island Gough Island ( ), also known historically as Gonçalo Álvares, is a rugged volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha and part of the British overseas territory of Sain ...

in the South Atlantic and Île Amsterdam in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. Breeding grounds are also found at

Marion Island The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...

in the Prince Edward Islands (where an overlap with Antarctic fur seals occurs), the

Crozet Islands The Crozet Islands (french: Îles Crozet; or, officially, ''Archipel Crozet'') are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarcti ...

, and Macquarie Island. Where grounds overlap, the subantarctic species can be identified by the orange colour on the chest. About 300,000 subantarctic fur seals are alive today, probably substantially down from when they were first discovered in 1810, as they were hunted for their pelts throughout the 19th century. Populations are recovering rapidly, though, in most areas whilst under the protection of the

Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. It was signed at the conclusion of a multilateral conference in London on February 11, 1972. Contents CCAS had the objective "to promote and ac ...

. A small population on Heard Island is endangered. Unlike the Antarctic fur seal, whose genetic variation is low due to hunting making all but one breeding colony extinct by 1900, the diversity amongst subantarctic specimens remains high.

Diet

Subantarctic fur seals hunt in shallow waters at night, when

myctophid Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μυκτήρ ''myktḗr'', "nose" and ''ophis'', "serpent") are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represente ...

fish come close to the surface. They also feed on

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

Description

Distribution

Diet

See also

References

Further reading