Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

Species Ommatophoca rossi J.E. Gray, 1844

Museums

Regional Maps

CAVS: 1556

Species Ommatophoca rossi J.E. Gray, 1844

Ross Seal

  • Ommatophoca rossi Gray, J.E. 1844. The seals of the Southern Hemisphere. 1-8, 14-17 pls 1-10 in Richardson, J. & Gray, J.E. (eds). The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, R.N., F.R.S., during the years 1839 to 1843, Volume 1 Mammalia, Birds. London : E.W. Janson [7].
    Type data:
     Lectotype BMNH 1843.11.25.4 ♀ adult skeleton, Ross Sea, Antarctica.
    Paralectotype(s) BMNH 1843.11.16.7 ♀ juv. skull.
    Subsequent designation references:
    Barrett-Hamilton, G.E.H. 1902. Report on the Collections of Natural History made in the Antarctic Regions During the Voyage of the Southern Cross. London : British Museum 66 pp. 1 pl.
    Compiled from secondary source:
     Scheffer, V.B. 1958. Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses. A review of the Pinnipedia. Stanford : Stanford University Press x 179 pp. 32 pls.

 

Distribution

States

South Australia


Extra Distribution Information

Heard Is.; single record of this seal for mainland Australia.


IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IMCRA

Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33)

Other Regions

Heard & McDonald Islands (Aust. Terr.)

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, sedentary.

Extra Ecological Information

Diet includes cephalopods, fish and krill.

 

General References

Bengston, J.L. & Steart, B.S. 1997. Diving patterns of a Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossii) near the eastern coast of the Antarctic peninsula. Polar Biology 18: 214-218

King, J.E. 1969. Some aspects of the aatomy of the Ross seal, Ommatophoca rossi (Pinnipedia: Phocidae). British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 63: 1-54

King, J.E. 1983. Seals of the World. 2nd Edition. St Lucia : Univ. Queensland Press 240 pp.

Ling, J.K. 1995. Ross Seal Ommatophoca rossi. pp. 693-694 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.

Ray, G.L. 1981. Ross seal Ommatophoca rossi Gray, 1844. pp. 237-260 in Ridgway, S.H. & Harrison, R.J. (eds). Handbook of Marine Mammals. Volume 2. Seals. London : Academic Press

Southwell, C. 2003. Haul-out behaviour of two Ross seals off eastern Antarctica. Antarctic Science 15: 257-258

Tedman, R.A. 1991. Morphology of the reproductive tract of a juvenile male Ross seal, Ommatophoca rossi (Pinnipedia: Phocidae). Australian Mammalogy 14: 35-38

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study (Ross Seal)