Crabeater seal: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the crabeater seal lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Lobodon carcinophaga
Group	Seals, sea lions & walrus
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Antarctica
Class	Mammal
Order	Carnivora
Family	Phocidae

Where does the crabeater seal live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the crabeater seal in 1 country or territory across Antarctica.

Antarctica

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the crabeater seal endangered?

The crabeater seal’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the crabeater seal?

The crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga) is a mammal in the order Carnivora and the family Phocidae, genus Lobodon. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the crabeater seal

The crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga), also known as the krill-eater seal, is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are the only member of the genus Lobodon. They are medium- to large-sized (over 2 m (6.6 ft) in length), relatively slender and pale-colored, found primarily on the free-floating pack ice that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which they use as a platform for resting, mating, social aggregation and accessing their prey. They are by far the most abundant seal species in the world. While population estimates are uncertain, there are at least 7 million and possibly as many as 75 million individuals. This success of this species is due to its specialized predation on the abundant Antarctic krill of the Southern Ocean, for which it has uniquely adapted, sieve-like tooth structure. Indeed, its scientific name, translated as "lobe-toothed (lobodon) crab eater (carcinophaga)", refers specifically to the finely lobed teeth adapted to filtering their small crustacean prey.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Crabeater seal (revision 1381341588), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q626027 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).