3 o4 THE ANIMALS OF THE ANTARCTIC 



seal (0. forsteri), which ranges from the south-western coast of Australia to the 

 Chatham Islands, and is now very rare, the valuable under-fur, forming the seal- 

 skin of commerce, is well developed in the males, but in the females is so scant 

 that the two sexes have been regarded as separate species, of which one was a 

 hair-seal. 



The earless, or true, seals of the family Phocidce are represented 



E'l rl6SS S6cLlS 



in the Antarctic by four species, namely, Weddell's seal (Leptonych- 

 otes weddelli) ; the crab-eating or white seal (Lobodon carcinopliagus) ; Ross's 

 seal (Ommatophoca rossi) ; and the sea-leopard, or leopard-seal (Ogmorhinus 

 leptonyx). As already mentioned, all these four Antarctic seals are quite distinct 

 from the seals of the Northern Hemisphere, and each represents a distinct generic 

 type by itself. The four genera are well characterised by the dentition, that of 

 the leopard-seal being the strongest and that of Ross's seal the most feeble. The 

 leopard-seal, which is much the largest of the four, and attains a weight of about 

 850 lb., feeds almost exclusively on fish, and frequents the pack-ice. In Ross's 

 seal, on the other hand, the teeth are remarkably weak, those of the molar series 

 forming mere peg-like knobs, while the skull is extremely short, with feeble jaws. 

 As might have been supposed, the food of this species consists of soft substances, 

 such as cuttles and fleshy seaweed. The white or so-called crab-eating seal, which 

 is a common species found on the pack-ice, is believed to feed upon small 

 crustaceans of the genus Euphausia. During the summer, when the coat is being- 

 shifted, these seals apparently fast. Weddell's seal, which is a shore species, feeds 

 on crustaceans and small fishes. Ross's seal is remarkable for the peculiar puffing- 

 out of the breast, which is suggestive of an extremely corpulent pouter-pigeon. 

 To seize and hold its slippery prey the leopard-seal has large tricuspid cheek- 

 teeth and powerful tusks. When on the ice, it bulges out its sides until the whole 

 body becomes flattened in much the same way as many lizards flatten themselves 

 out when basking in the sun. This species, which grows to eleven or twelve feet 

 in length, has an olive coat dappled with yellow and black, and ranges from the 

 pack-ice to the coasts of Patagonia, the Falklands, Kerguelen Island, Australia, and 

 New Zealand. The white seal takes its name from the pure creamy white colour 

 of the coat at a certain season ; but at other times the coat is greyish, more or less 

 mottled with brown, especially near the flippers and tail, which are then wholly 

 brown. The cheek-teeth are of a more complex structure than those of the 

 leopard-seal, perhaps for the purpose of straining out the minute crustaceans on 

 which this seal feeds. This species is stated to be the common seal of the pack-ice, 

 at any rate during the months of the Antarctic summer. It is, however, by no 

 means confined to this belt of ice, as it is also to be found sparingly as far south as 

 the great ice-barrier, in company with Weddell's seal, which is the most common 

 seal of Ross's Sea and South Victoria-land. Weddell's seal, which, as already 

 mentioned, is a shore-seal, may be distinguished from the leopard-seal not only by 

 the much simpler structure of its cheek-teeth, but likewise by the absence of deep 

 black among its dark mottlings. In addition to the features already mentioned, 

 Ross's seal is characterised by the colour of the coat varying from steel-grey to 

 greyish brown, becoming darker along the middle line of the back, and nearly 

 white on the under-parts. It is far from being a common species, and till about 



