by: Dagmar Fertl
The crabeater seal actually doesn't eat crabs, but another crustacean called krill. Their complex teeth are reflected in the name Lobodon which means lobed teeth. The name carcinophagus comes from the Greek "karkinos" meaning crab and "phagein" which means to eat.
The crabeater seal is long and slender with an elongated, upturned snout. Crabeaters have lobed teeth which they also use to strain krill out of the water. They molt their pelage or coat in January and February. A freshly molted seal is dark on top and light on the belly. Later in the year, the coat lightens to an overall blonde color. They often have patches of spots or rings on their coats, but are also often covered in scars from attacks by leapord seals and killer whales.
Adult crabeaters are about 2.6 m in length and weigh approximately 200-300 kg.
Extralimital sightings have been recorded in southeastern Africa mostly between late December and early March (austral summer). These seals are typically found in the pack ice around Antarctica.
This is probably the most numerous pinniped and the most numerous large mammal on Earth besides humans! Depleted baleen whale populations in the southern oceans, which made large amounts of krill available, is thought to have caused crabeaters to increase so dramatically in number in recent years. This species of seal only nurse their pups for 2-3 weeks. They live up to 40 years, but but have an average lifespan of about 20. When crabeater seals are upset, they often foam at the nose.
Small numbers of these seals have been taken for research purposes, as well as for feeding sled dogs in Antarctica.
Insufficiently known.
Riedman, M. 1990. The pinnipeds: seals, sea lions, and walruses. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Jefferson, T.A. Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber. 1994. FAO Species Identification Guide, Marine Mammals of the World. FAO of the United Nations, Rome.
Leatherwood, S., R.R. Reeves, and B.S. Stewart. 1992. The Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, CA. 359 pp.
Australian Antarctic Division Home Page
Australian Antarctic Division Home Page (crabeater seal project findings)
URL for this page: http://csiwhalesalive.org/csicrabeater.html