New mammals recognised for Australia - Antarctic and Subantarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus species

1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
P.D. Shaughnessy
Keyword(s):  
Arctocephalus Gazella ◽  
Antarctic Fur Seal ◽  
Macquarie Island ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
Heard Island ◽  
Pinniped Species ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Subantarctic Fur Seals

Recent authoritative texts on Australian mammals include several pinniped species but most omit the Antarctic Fur Seal Arctocephalus gazella and Subantarctic Fur Seal A. tropicalis. The former species breeds at Heard Island; at Macquarie Island it breeds in territories with A. tropicalis. Information is tabulated on skulls of these two species held in Australian museums. It is argued that they should be included in comprehensive lists of Australian mammals.

Fur seal skull from sealers' quarters at Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean

Polar Record ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (162) ◽  
pp. 245-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Townrow ◽  
P. D. Shaughnessy
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Arctocephalus Gazella ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Antarctic Fur Seal ◽  
Macquarie Island ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
Antarctic Research ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Specific Identity

AbstractFur seals were exterminated from Macquarie Island about 20 years after discovery of the island in 1810. Their specific identity is unknown. Few fur seals were reported at the island until it was occupied by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions in 1948. Fur seal numbers are now increasing. An archaeological excavation at a sealers' quarters at Sandy Bay in 1988 revealed the fragmented skull of a young Antarctic fur sealArctocephalus gazella1.1 m below the surface in a layer dated in the 1870s and 1880s. This period coincides with the recovery of fur seal populations in the South Atlantic Ocean following earlier harvesting. Elsewhere it has been argued that the Antarctic fur seal is unlikely to have been the original fur seal at Macquarie Island because few individuals of that species are ashore in winter, which is the season when the island was discovered and fur-seal harvesting began. It is concluded that the Sandy Bay skull is from a vagrant animal.

The composition of the milk of antarctic (Arctocephalus gazella) and subantarctic (A. tropicalis) fur seals at Macquarie Island

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon D. Goldsworthy ◽  
Helen M. Crowley
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Milk Composition ◽  
Arctocephalus Gazella ◽  
Macquarie Island ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
Gross Energy ◽  
Subantarctic Fur Seals

The composition of milk collected from 36 antarctic (Arctocephalus gazella) and 17 subantarctic fur seals (A. tropicalis) breeding sympatrically at Macquarie Island was examined over the first 100 days of lactation in the 1990/91 season. The mean composition of milk in A. gazella and A. tropicalis was 41.3% and 44.6% water, 39.8% and 38.6% lipid, 18.1% and 16.1% protein, and the estimated gross energy content of milk was 19.9 and 18.9 kJ g–1, respectively. Neither the composition of milk nor its energy density differed significantly between species, despite a difference of 4–6 months in lactation length. Water content of milk could be used to predict lipid (r2 = 0.67) and protein (r2 = 0.57) content, but was most accurate at predicting gross energy content (r2 = 0.97). These relationships were the same for each species. The water content of milk decreased throughout the first 100 days of lactation in both species, while lipid, protein and energy content all increased. The addition of maternal mass into regression analysis with days post-partum increased the significance of models predicting the content of lipid and proteins in the milk, but not those predicting the water or gross energy content. Milk collected on the first day of 2-day attendance bouts had, on average, 9% greater lipid content, and 5% greater protein content than milk collected on the second day. The growth rates of subantarctic fur seal pups were significantly lower than those of antarctic fur seal pups over the first month of growth, suggesting that (despite similar milk composition, attendance patterns and diet of the two species of fur seal) the overall rates of energy transfer from mother to pup in subantarctic fur seals is lower than in antarctic fur seals.

The present status of the Antarctic Fur Seal Arctocephalus gazella at South Shetland Islands

Polar Record ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 19 (119) ◽  
pp. 167-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anelio Aguayo L.
Keyword(s):  
Present Status ◽  
Previous History ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Arctocephalus Gazella ◽  
Antarctic Fur Seal ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
The Antarctic

The purpose of this paper is to report on the present status of the small but growing population of the Antarctic Fur Seal Arctocephalus gazella in the South Shetland Islands (Fig 1). The previous history of the sealing of this species is well documented by O'Gorman (1961, 1963), Bonner and Laws (1964) and Bonner (1964,1968). The current status of this and other species of fur seals, and the species of sea lions and true seals in the Southern Hemisphere, has been summarized by Laws (1973a). Bonner (1968) has made natural history and population studies on Antarctic Fur Seals in South Georgia, and present research here is being carried out by Dr M. R. Payne and two other colleagues of the British Antarctic Survey (Laws, 1973b).

scholarly journals Prey of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at Marion Island

Polar Biology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Makhado ◽  
M. N. Bester ◽  
S. P. Kirkman ◽  
P. A. Pistorius ◽  
J. W. H. Ferguson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctocephalus Gazella ◽  
Marion Island ◽  
Antarctic Fur Seal ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
The Antarctic

Records of vagrant fur seals (family Otariidae) in South Australia

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Shaughnessy ◽  
Catherine M. Kemper ◽  
David Stemmer ◽  
Jane McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South Australia ◽  
The South ◽  
South Indian Ocean ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
New Zealand Fur Seal ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Subantarctic Fur Seals

Two fur seal species breed on the southern coast of Australia: the Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) and the New Zealand fur seal (A. forsteri). Two other species are vagrants: the subantarctic fur seal (A. tropicalis) and the Antarctic fur seal (A. gazella). We document records of vagrant fur seals in South Australia from 1982 to 2012 based primarily on records from the South Australian Museum. There were 86 subantarctic fur seals: 49 specimens and 37 sightings. Most (77%) were recorded from July to October and 83% of all records were juveniles. All but two specimens were collected between July and November. Sightings were prevalent during the same period, but there were also nine sightings during summer (December–February), several of healthy-looking adults. Notable concentrations were near Victor Harbor, on Kangaroo Island and Eyre Peninsula. Likely sources of subantarctic fur seals seen in South Australia are Macquarie and Amsterdam Islands in the South Indian Ocean, ~2700 km south-east and 5200 km west of SA, respectively. There were two sightings of Antarctic fur seals, both of adults, on Kangaroo Island at New Zealand fur seal breeding colonies. Records of this species for continental Australia and nearby islands are infrequent.

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