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| Additional Information | Crabeater seals can move large distances through the pack-ice, due to both active movement and passive movement on drifting ice floes. They generally move southwards in spring, and northwards in autumn, with the seasonal contraction and expansion of the pack-ice. Moulting occurs in January and February. Seals spend most of their time on the ice when moulting. Leopard seals are a major predator of crabeater seals, particularly of young pups. Most adult crabeater seals have large scars as a result of unsuccessful predation by leopard seals when they were younger. Males and females are similar in size, reaching lengths of 2.5 m and weights of 400 kg. They breed on the ice from late September to early November. Females give birth to a single pup which is weaned 3-4 weeks after birth. During this time the female spends the entire time on the ice with the pup. The male plays no part in bringing up the pup, and the group disbands once the pup is weaned. |
| Diet and Feeding Diet and feeding details |
Crabeater seals feed mainly on krill. They are capable of diving to depths of up to 250 m, but usually feed within the upper 20 m of the water column. |
| Habitat Includes realm (e.g. Terrestrial etc) and climatic information (e.g. Boreal); also includes requirements and tolerances; horizontal and vertical distribution; |
Crabeater seals spend their entire lives in the pack-ice zone surrounding Antarctica. They rest, breed and moult on the pack-ice, and feed in the surrounding water. They are by far the most abundant seal species in the southern ocean, but estimates of total abundance are highly variable, ranging from 12 to 75 million |
Traits
| CAVS Identifier CAVS Identifier | Z1555 |
| CCAMLR FishLog Database species identifier CCAMLR FishLog Database species identifier | SET |
| Species 2000 Species 2000 | ITS-180663 |
Species belongs to the following lists - Follow link on List Name to see list of all species.
| Type | List Name | Description | Status | Basis of Record |
| Bioregion | Heard Island | includes McDonald Island | Derived (from literature) |