crabeater seal

crabeater seal

mammal
 (species Lobodon carcinophagus), southern seal of the family Phocidae found among drifting ice packs around the Antarctic continent. A slender animal measuring about 2–2.5 m (6.6–8.2 feet) long and up to about 225 kg (500 pounds) in weight, the crabeater seal feeds on krill (planktonic crustaceans and larvae), rather than on crabs as its name implies. Its teeth are elaborately cusped and fit together to filter its food from the sea. The coat of the seal is blotched gray-brown but fades and becomes whitish by the time the crabeater molts in late summer. Breeding occurs on the pack ice; the pup is pale brown at birth. Adult crabeater seals frequently bear scars from wounds that have been inflicted by killer whales.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • crabeater seal — noun Date: 1913 an Antarctic hair seal (Lobodon carcinophaga) that feeds on krill and lives and breeds on pack ice called also crabeater …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • crabeater seal — noun silvery grey Antarctic seal subsisting on crustaceans • Syn: ↑crab eating seal • Hypernyms: ↑seal …   Useful english dictionary

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  • crabeater — noun see crabeater seal …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • crabeater — ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ noun 1. : any of several fishes and birds reputed to eat crabs (as the sergeant fish and various herons) 2. : crabeater seal 3. : crab eating raccoon 4. : cobia * * * crabeating …   Useful english dictionary

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