🦭Hooded seal
The hooded seal or bladdernose seal is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic, ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. The seals are typically silver-grey or white in color, with black spots that vary in size covering most of the body. Hooded seal pups are known as "blue-backs" because their coats are blue-grey on the back with whitish bellies. This coat is shed after 14 months of age when the pups molt. It is the only species in the genus Cystophora.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2025.
- Body mass
- 245 kg
- Body length
- 2.81 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 35 years
Everything we know about the Hooded seal
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass245 kgrecord 400 kg · SeaLifeBaseCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
By sex
- Female300 kgSeaLifeBasev25.04SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.
Figures vary
- 405 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Body length2.81 mCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
By sex
- Female2 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Figures vary
- 2.6 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass471 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan35 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Generation length9.99 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity3.5 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation335 daysCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 240 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Litter size1COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Trophic levelOmnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleCrepuscular / mixedestimatedCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Population density0.01 per km²COMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l245 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
estimated = a model's estimate for a species nobody has measured; average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Hooded seal yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCarnivora
- ›familyPhocidae
- ›genusCystophora
- ›speciesCystophora cristata
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- familyPhocidae
- genusCystophora
All 14 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- superorderLaurasiatheria
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- suborderCaniformia
- familyPhocidae
- genusCystophora
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